Hang in there!

Keep pouring the rains, O thy fate, 

The courage instilled within, will still not abate,

How long will you keep the darkness of this night?

The dawn will come with a ray, and there will be light!

Never give up!

Came across this poem which I had written back in 2012

Running up the hill, you're gasping for your breath,

If you continue this way, you'll soon see your wreath.

When tears mix with your sweat, the sun will broadly smile,

That's when you will know, that you've just climbed a mile. 

Soon you'll see the top, and it's just one smear away,

That's when the winds will come, just so you could sway.

With your feet on the soil, you keep eyeballing the top,

Blink of an eye my son, and it's a very steep drop! 

सारे तिचेच होते, सारे तिच्याचसाठी

One of my favorite poems written by a renowned Marathi poet विंदा करंदीकर 

सारे तिचेच होते, सारे तिच्याचसाठी

हे चंद्र, सूर्य, तारे होते तिच्याच पाठी

आम्हीहि त्यात होतो-- खोटे कशास बोला--
त्याचीच ही कपाळी, बारीक एक आठी !

उगवायची उषा ती, अमुची तिच्याच नेत्री
अन मावळावयाची, संध्या तिच्याच ओठी !

दडवीत वृद्ध होते, काठी तिला बघून,
नेसायचे मुमुक्षू, इस्त्री करून छाटी !

जेव्हा प्रदक्षिणा ती, घालीच मारुतीला
तेव्हा पहायची हो, मूर्ती वळून पाठी !

प्रत्यक्ष भेटली का ? नव्हती तशी जरूरी;
स्वप्नात होत होत्या, तसल्या अनेक भेटी !

हसतोस काय बाबा, तू बाविशीत बुढ्ढा,
त्यांना विचार ज्यांची, उद्या असेल साठी !

The fine line

There is a fine line between determination and desperation. Do you see it?

E(go)?

It's ok to let go of your ego for the people you know will be there besides your deathbed. 

Is it worth the ........... ?

Whatever activity/task you're doing, always try to answer this question for yourself - 

Is it worth the ______ that you are putting in?

There are 4 options to fill in the blank here and they should cover almost all your life situations. And those are: 

• Time
• Effort
• Risk
• Money 

Keep Fighting

Keep pouring the rains, O thy fate, 

The courage instilled within will still not abate. 

How long will you keep, the darkness of this night?

You know the sun will rise, and there will be light. 

Choice vs Compromise

You're convinced and then you take a decision - it's a choice

You take a decision and then you're convinced - it's a compromise. 

Gravity Failure

No matter how strong gravity is, it cannot bring you down to earth; you have to do it yourself

A necessary companion

No matter what your destination is, make sure to carry some trust with you; it definitely helps in the journey!

The ultimate masquerader

Wrapping his wounds with a blanket of humor,
and covering his tears with an unknown smile,
he holds the courage to ignore his fear,
that all will blow when a storm hits his aisle!

Departure

Sometimes there is no destination, but still it is the time for departure. 

Happy Couple

 A good test to find out a happy couple - see if they work together in the kitchen :) 

The Unexpressed Love

It's been a long time I have wanted to post this, but finally doing it now. The context of the lines that I am going to mention below goes back to the year 2007 (seems almost like a century behind) :)
The story is very long, but to cut it short, I'll just say that I was away from my home and one incident led me to think something that we very rarely think of - our parents. Of all the people in the world, they're the most important to us, but yet, most neglected from us too. We come across so many people in our lives and we appreciate some or the other quality of them. We meet someone, barely know them for a few months/years and we're in a hurry to express our "love" to them. Remember the last time you had appreciated your mom or your dad? Remember when was the last time you said "I love you" to your mom or dad. Trying to re-collect? Go ahead, and if you don't find anything back there, go and read out these lines to you parents the next time you see them.
Yes. you're right; this blog is dedicated to all the parents in this world. And I write it on behalf of every child who has not expressed his/her love towards them.

When all thought as worse, they called me the best,

In worst of all the weathers, they kept me in their nest.

My bed was always soft, and my sleep was always sound,

Seeing a fly on my cheek, their heart used to pound.

They pinched their stomach, so that mine wasn't empty,

But they acted as if they, already had it plenty.

Sometimes they were strict, which used to make me cry,
But it was hard for them too, to keep their eyes dry.

Sitting on their shoulders, I was tallest in the crowd,
Even a smallest win of mine, made them feel so proud. 

Their hands were always there, when I needed something to hold,
But now they need my hand, as they have started growing old. 

Now it's time I step up, and give them some rest,

The way in which I return their love, lies my real test.

I have never said it before, but it's never late to start,

I love you O mom and dad, from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you!

Are we just puppets?

Today, I heard the news of an accident in which two established Marathi actors – Anand Abhyankar, Akhsay Pendse passed away.  Along with Akshay, his 1.5 yr old son also passed away. On hearing this, the first thought, or rather question, that came into my mind was – are we puppets? Do we have no control on what’s happening?

Let me start with how did the accident happen. These guys were travelling in their Wagon R on the Mumbai-Pune express highway at night. They were heading towards Mumbai. A tempo (miniature truck) was travelling in the opposite direction (towards Pune). There’s a huge divider in between the two lanes. But still, somehow, the tempo driver lost his control, plunged over the divider and slammed into Anand’s car. How bad could the destiny have been for these guys? I mean how the hell did they know that the very second they were going past that point, a vehicle would come and hit them. Had there been a couple of seconds here and there, who knows, they might have been saved and have been living right now with us.

What does this whole scene indicate? I get a feeling of everything being pre-programmed. It’s written. Maktub. We’re puppets. If this is the real case, then why did god created us? Just for his own entertainment? Is it like a movie for him? Why does he gives us the brain to plan for our future, for our kids, for our parents? Why does he gives birth to babies if he plans to take them away when they are at an age of 1.5 yrs? Why does he shows hope and pulls us towards something good and then as soon we get a touch of it, he snatches it back? Is this fair? They say that – “you create your own destiny”. Does the 1.5 year old kid even know what destiny means? Why did not god give him a fair chance to create his? Imagine the catastrophic situation of the parents, the wife, the children of people passing away in such brutal accidents? What was their mistake that they deserved this?

This is how it has been happening and this is how it will happen. Someone up there uses us like a puppet. Whenever he wants us to laugh, he makes us laugh. Whenever he wants us to be sad, he makes us cry. If that’s how it’s going to be, then how can he expect us to be his devotees? How can he expect us to worship him daily? And why should we? Because he can go ahead and kill our babies?  It’s a mere puppet show going on here and we never know who’s time is going to come when.  Just stay positive and keep your fingers crossed!

The Wait, The Search, The Hope

Whatever stage of life you're going through, there is one thing common across all the stages - the wait, the search, the hope.
You can be a kid waiting for your mom to come to pick you up at the daycare; You could be a old man whose only wish is to see his long distant son near him when takes his last breath. You could be warrior hoping to return home and see your wife and kids. You could be a repenting man hoping to wipe off his past. Whatever it is, you always have hope. Your eyes keep looking for something. Wherever you go, we search for only one thing - hope.

Based on this thought, I wrote a few lines, trying my best to tell as many things as possible from these few lines. Here you are -

I look into the sky,

And search for god.

I look into her eyes,

And wait for a nod.

I look at the soil,

And search for my feet.

I look at the horizon,

And wish we could meet.

I look into my past,

And i search for a face

I look into the future

Hoping to win the race.

I look at my tired palms,

And try to read every line.

I look at the rainy cloud

Hoping the sun would shine.

Life and it's colors

EVERYONE in this world has some or the other problem in his life. There is no one who has escaped from this. The question is – do you want to die thinking of how my problems were or do you want to die thinking how I enjoyed my life in spite of my problems?
Some people die trying to overcome those problems, but as soon as one is finished, the other one pops up and their life goes on in the same way. On the other hand, some people live with it and accept the fact that NOBODY is perfect and they see the positive things and keep themselves happy. Who are you? What do you want to be? The choice is completely yours.

People come into our lives with their own package. What usually happens is that we love the person, but hate the package. But in a culture where we have been bought up, we have to accept the package. It’s a part and parcel of our lives. And what frustrates us more is – the person who we THINK we know very well, has a darker side that we have never seen. There is no human being in your life who will behave EXACTLY as you want and would do all the things that you have always expected. But still, there is one person with whom we get along very well. Being with him/her, feels nice, gives you solace. You sleep happily thinking that I am with the person who I love the most in the world. And believe me, it’s a best feeling.

If you're with your loved ones today, it's priceless. Maybe it's hurting you now, but in the long run, something else is going o hurt you. Maybe you are not realizing what you have right now, because you have not lost it. Life teaches us lessons in the exact same way – it gives what we want, and the moment we don’t start valuing what we have, it snatches it from us. That is when we get to know the real value of what we have in our lives. And trust me, you will be much more hurt when it goes away from you. Nobody is the world is flawless, so accept them with their bad habits. You too have some bad habits, or are you 100% perfect? But others are accepting you with them, right? So, why can’t you? There is not a single problem in this world which, if two people sit in front of each other, can solve. It’s just about how you want to approach it. Fear lets you run away from it. But the problem is – the farther you go, more hurting it is. Right now, you feel that running away is an option. But when you go ahead on your run, you will regret your decision.

One common complaint that most of us have is – He/She has changed. Let me tell you one thing – people don’t change overnight. It’s simply impossible to be a contrast person in just a few days. It is possible that there might be some gap between two people and that gap has increased over the years. Yes, that is quite possible. But has the gap gone so much that you are not able to see each other at all? And if yes, then are you happy when you’re not seeing him/her? I am sure you are not. If being in this gap is not making you happy, then is it a good thing? I have learnt one thing from my mentor and I diligently try to follow it; he says – “The goal of the life is to be happy and the ultimate destination is death. If you reach the destination without achieving your goal, what life have you lived?”. The motto here is simple – If you’re not happy, then something is wrong. And if it is wrong, you have to fix it. If you fix it and still you’re unhappy, fix it again. Continue this till the point you get happy.

Whatever the issue is, just show some faith in 2 things – your love and God. They never let you down. Show some patience and things will change. Maybe you have shown a lot, but going an extra mile for the person you love is not a big deal. I can bet my anything on the fact that the people who love each other the most can never stay away from each other. You will fight, you will cry and you will get angry, but at the end of the day, you will check if he/she is there with you. My 2 cents of advice to all of you is - hang in there and change things positively. For that, have a very positive outlook; try to make everyone smile and trust me, the gap starts narrowing. Let me tell you one more thing - people are not bad at heart. However stern they appear from outside, all it needs to melt them, is a bit of love.
 
One last saying that I love the most. “Lose the fight, not the person”.

Don't lose hope in tough situations..!

Don't look over your shoulder, as your past is gone,

At this very crossroad, you're all new born.

The road right in front, would be the easiest to take,

But the friends you make here, would all be fake.

From the bottom of your heart, you have a question to ask,

Which is the road on which, I don't need a mask.

Maybe on that road, all you will get is rain,

And as you look at others, your heart will pain.

But you keep going ahead, till you wallow your sorrows,

And then you'll know, this is the best of all the tomorrows! 

When love leaves

I thought of this poem when I saw a scene from a movie. This scene was of a military man to whom the nation was calling and he is now bidding goodbye to his wife....What must be going on through their hearts?

Hard to see him leave, she closed her eyes,

But her heart didn't budge, and made a plan.

Whistling down her cheeks, came two drops,

To catch a final glimpse, of her army man.

Walking away from her, her thoughts were pulling him,

Till he finally gave up, and looked back with fear.

He saw her dripping tears, and held out his hand,

Only to realize that, she is now nowhere near.

The farther he went, tighter she closed her eyes,

And she crossed her arms, feeling him very near.

The drops started rushing, as his face began fading,

But inside her closed eyes, his face was crystal clear.

Waiting for him to come, she stood in the rain,

Her heart is now sunk, but her eyes are all dried.

Gone far are her tears, but how will she let go,

The beautiful hope to which, her eyes are tied.

The globe is warming, but not with the warmth of love!

I was talking to a friend, and he was telling about his experiences in Trivandrum (he was working there for a few years).
He told me that his locality in the city was not best, but it could certainly be considered as a higher middle class locality. They had big houses, with lush green lawns in front of them. The exterior view of the house would certainly give us an impression that the happiness in this house is as big as its size. But here is what the actual situation is - living the huge houses, are a old couple, who are hardly able to walk. They keep wondering what's going on in the other corner of the house.
Here is the worst part - they keep boasting about their children being there in the United States/Europe etc. etc. The people listening to them are happy, but the real question is - are they REALLY happy in telling this?
If yes, how do you justify this: There are advertisements in newspapers, which say "Friends required - come to our house, talk for some time and get yourselves paid". Funny, isn't it? But, it's true. Such "rich" people are so much depressed, that they're willing to BUY friends.

What's more disheartening? Global warming or this lack of heart warmth?