My short Independence Day Speech

You know whenever I read about our Constitution; it makes me wonder, as to what is independence? Was it just a day? Or was it a starting point of something significant? What has happened to India isn’t just the result of India but also a combination of the inconsistencies across the globe and co-incidences?

Irrespective of how we have come along these 64 years, I still can say, India is its own competitor and one needs to look in before looking out. I never realized much about being an Indian when I was in India, because I didn't quite realize what it feels and over the last few years, whenever I am outside of country, my passport (which is the defining factor mostly) speaks a lot and then we meet people. Many are informed about India through different opinions and all I add is another opinion from a Indian perspective. Believe me, there are several perspectives to a particular thing just like we have several Gods and Goddess in our mythology. We fight to prove our perspectives are right, but I guess I realized that's the beauty of the country I was born.

"All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything." - Swami Vivekananda

India over the years has made people give their opinions and that I feel is a freedom of speech. So in that sense I am independent to give out my opinions. That's fine until now. I sense we need to move ahead and take a step forward with conviction that action speaks louder than opinions. I believe we are seeking to be independent more than ever before, at least in my generation of living. We the people haven't realized the power of the government that is made by people alone. We need to understand the importance of being a drop and its contribution to the ocean. I seek our country to be more self aware and for that each individual to be self-aware before going out and condemning things.

Like Swami Vivekananda said - "The goal of mankind is knowledge... now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge."

India is merely a geographical land if we remove the masses from it. So in that sense I have to think of the power we people hold. We can accept, we can change and at times we can hope for the better.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies" - Shawshank Redemption

Connecting Dots of One's Life

Life is a series of dots that we hop or connect during the course of our stay in this world. Each dot represents a momentary feeling that makes us go to the extremes in the emotion quotient. At the same time some are balanced emotional diet to live with.

It’s been a series of dot trips I have had over the past few years; and each represented a significant milestone in some sorts. Not sure how, but somehow I have left a particular dot with some confidence that one day this dot did help me complete the picture. I am no harbinger to pin point exactly how or what significance each dot holds at the moment; bluntly confident enough to say it will for sure.

I quote this line and sometimes did use previously – “The world we live is cynical” if not, at least the events that occur makes us believe it to be cynical”. Yes some part of it is from the movie ‘Jerry Maguire’ and rest is based on my experience. It is our confidence, beliefs, choices and opportunities we make out of things that life dishes out each day, determines the level of cynicism we end up living with.

I ask myself why I chose this particular field. And to be honest, I am not confident in saying this is where I will be in ‘X’ number of years. But the inner fire ignites and gives me a feeling; I will reach that point in life, however unclear it seems at the moment.

How do I identify that particular dot in my life, if I ever to reach in the future? Guess it is all related to my present and to an extent my past life. I cannot change my past but can always look at my present in a different way and move on with it. It isn’t a crime to get stuck with a particular dot, but failing to make an attempt to move, in order to get to the next dot is a crime. Well that’s how I choose to look at it.

Learning from my past, all I can say - There will be the feeling of being on top of the world which is associated when I do reach that dot. That particular day, I can visualize and even go on to say eloquently about the different dots of my life and how relevant it has been to get to that feeling. Till then, I say to myself - “Keep on hoping from one dot to another; you never know when you actually hit that feel good factor button inside us”. Ultimately it’s all about hitting the feel good factors on more occasions at our dot stops.

P.S – I do not know to define the ‘feel good factor’. So it is better left to one’s interpretation.

Why History

I am browsing the site History.com, i ask myself a question. Why am I so fascinated with history? Its indeed a thought provoking question. In the most neutral sense, it means nothing but my preference over gamut of topics we come across in daily life.

If I ask myself honestly at this moment I can say; I love listening, watching and telling stories. I love sports and movies. To stretch it a bit further, I love the historical journey of my aformentioned favourites in particular.

This doesnt mean, I do not like the present day situation. To me, in order to completely appreciate a particular situation in the present context, I want to know the history behind it. Philosophically, this is how I look at life in general. 'How I was' is an important connection to 'How I am' and a catalyst to 'How I will be'; because in a short time, 'How I am' shall pass and becomes history in due course.

In that sense, history is important and it just gives an indication through which one can fathom how the trend has shaped over time. Paying due respects to the 'present moment', I say, the choices of the present that shapes the future, as well as to come to a point of choosing is dictated heavily by history. Hence, history is a key element according to me to know and to understand anything in general.
I do have resources to learn history but I do feel, we can do a lot more with history. History in some way is awareness, not entirely real, if considered in present context. It is a starter, sometimes more than a appetizer to make choices that would shape my future.

In the end, it is neither history nor astrology that define our lives..... It is 'Present'. And the key element that connects 'Present' is history. Human life is all about being aware and ignorant at the same time. According to me, History helps us to be aware and ignorant; depending on its relevance in our present life.

A totally mirror approach would present the future studies in a similar way. I choose and all these years chose history for several reasons unknown. Sometime in my journey, when I am able to connect more dots, I can refine and put it in a better way as to why I like history.

Sing as though no one's listening

It is one of those days when you are in full song. Quite literally as you walk past the mild fog while humming the song that’s on the mind. I do not intend to think much into why this is happening. In a strange way, I am beginning to like the winter and the coolness associated with it. It's a pain waking up and accidentally touching one's feet on the cold marble floor. It feels like walking on frozen ice. Trust me, in places where there is no provision for centralised heating; it can be quite an experience. But, that's how it is and you know, in the end it’s an experience :-)

I am making my breakfast after having a really hot shower, the feel of which would last few seconds, before the cool ambient air surrounds my body and I run towards my wardrobe. Actually, I don't run, but if I am walking on my barefoot, oh man, it is really running time.

After a long time with Delhi summer, it’s been layered clothing from past two to three weeks. It is good to see people experimenting with lots of combination with their outfits. In fact, I love watching others during winter. When I am walking, exchanging pleasantries is a nice feeling. When fully equipped in the clothes section, I must admit, I love winters all the more.

Coming back to the singer in me, it is something nice when you walk around streets and singing songs from inside. Very oblivious to events around me and all I am bothered is to enrich the experience and feel it completely. In this regard, I love walking more than running, because of it being more rhythmic to my moods. I guess, I haven't mastered to sync the run with my moods when compared with walking. This is my assessment. Is this the feeling, "My Dil goes Hmmmm"? Well, I am trying to ask too many questions here and I don't feel like thinking about it....

This feeling was warmed with the hot mushroom soup which I had few minutes ago. A bonfire with a book is something ideal considering the fact, I am all by myself.... Well, things could be much better; but you don't feel bad...It’s just one of those days when you are in this kind of a mood. One such mode where I am singing it loud as though no one's listening :-)

Can you hear the song I am singing? Is that so, good for you :-)

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Me and my thoughts

I must say, I had a sort of eventful weekend and it was all by myself. I am not sure, how it feels for a lot of people, but from what I have seen and heard, it is clear, we are ourselves when we are left with our own thoughts and choices.
After a long hiatus, I managed to watch the golden classics of Hollywood era. In short, I got a chance to watch movies on my laptop. This year I managed to catch up with a lot of Hindi movies along with my house mates from South Delhi. Now that, guys have gone to their respective stop gap arrangements, I have moved into a new house, infact last week I moved into another house, just a few metres away. It feels different, with cold feet and in a place with no heaters. Yes, it has its own fun, I must admit. After going through a record breaking Delhi summer, I am getting to feel, what the locals say, the best part of Delhi, its winter.
The fog will take some time to make its appearance. The way I have seen them in many Bollywood movies, it sure would feel good walking when fog prevails over Delhi.
Cooking, well, I have been very sporadic in this regard but still managed to cook quite a lot. I like when there are people around me. It brings the chef in me to the fore. Anyways, its a good way to experiment new dishes. And it is always better to try first before letting others to taste them.

Over the past week, running against the cool breeze gave me a good feeling. Running is a good thing, and more than running, I fancy brisk walking where I get a chance to talk to myself and its more rhythmic to the thoughts that comes on my mind. One such thought was - "If you compare yourself with others, you are a socialite; if you compare yourself with your past, you are a genius"

I came up with this line and the next moment, I wondered, what could be the meaning of this. I thought over the aforementioned line, I didnt feel the same because I was fabricating a theory to support this line. Well, I tried again, thinking what if others ask. Still, I wasnt convinced or should say, didnt have any convincing reason to support my line. In the end, after pondering close to ten minutes, I decided to stick with the line without any reason. Whom should I reason with? I feel good with this line and I am pretty sure, I will find the reason along the way. This according to me is the way it should be. Surely, its an instinctive call.

Movies Imitate Life; Life Imitates Movies

Firstly, after a long time I feel, I have to be honest with myself. I was scared or should I say, I used to feel bad whenever people used to call me filmy or here is a guy who talks about movies, relates the real life situations to movies, makes a mockery of songs and has fun by repeating dialogues from the movies.
Yes, that’s me.... Call me anything, because, name is just a matter of opinion. Previously, I was not accepting this aspect of mine, even though I talked a lot about movies.

Of late, I have learnt, people will love the way you are and love being what you are. This blog is to that few people in my life, who irrespective of how crazy and how much I talk about movies, still love me and tells me to be the way I am. I love them.

I come from a family of movie lovers. One can say, I am a guy who has learnt quite a lot of things from movies, it has shown me few things, answered few questions and more over it has had a positive influence on me. My maternal grandfather, my mother and my maternal uncle have been my biggest influencers.

The more I look at the movies, I somehow feel, there is some connection. I always get connected and feel as though, there is an imitation of life. I love connecting to characters if I can benefit from it. After all, life is all about learning. It can be learning to laugh, learning to be disciplined, to achieve goals, what to do and what not to do.

The beauty of life is such that, we cannot allow movie characters or movie themes to dictate our lives. It can give us a direction but it doesn’t walk on behalf of us. It can point towards the answers, but it doesnt say the right one. In the end, it’s merely an indicator, not a decider; an aspect of movies that appealed me. I have to make a choice for my life and it is similar to the disclaimer of the movies - "All characters and stories are merely coincidental."

Inspirations, without them, there wouldn’t be any artists. Art wouldn’t have had any meaning attached to it. When nature can be a source of inspiration, people and places can be a source of inspiration, why can’t movies and certain elements, which in itself is inpsired by these elements be a source of inspiration?

It doesn’t matter.... All I know is, one cannot create things without inspirations, and if value is attached to the end product then who cares about what inspired them. This is to those few people who do care about inspiration and not just the end product. Movies are product of inspirations of various life styles adopted by humans and if one can learn and become better, then why not?

A New Chapter

Eversince I wrote my last blog, I felt all the remaining days, the purpose of I writing all these years came to a progressive conclusion. Things that seemed expressive found new channels and experiences I chose to share also ceased to exist in my chosen stream.

Until few days ago, due to aforementioned reasons or is this a scenario of looking life from different lens, I pondered to share my ever growing experiences. Years or should I say Wonder years of experience has made me look life in a different mode.

Last few months have been a tremendous experience something I have not had in my life. That's positive according to me. You know why - "Its a burning desire from a personal point of view to experience the same old things in a new way"

There is another side to this - As long as we constantly strive to learn from what we have, and where we are, I am pretty sure everyday seems new day; new day with the knowledge of life brewing constantly, it does seem its different.

It's a feeling where its a thin line between, no man's land and the wonderland. I have been there before and it is a good feeling; but with our persepectives constantly evolving day in and day out, Do we actually feel - "I have been there done that before in a similar way?"

I would say no. Things remain the same, because they are things, with no lives. Our surroundings and perceptions change and evolve with constant learning.

Why I stopped writing - In March early this year, I found a meaning to the title I had chosen for this blog. Now, I have found a new purpose. The new purpose is something that has not taken its total shape, as it is energised by my daily actions and listening to one's instincts.
Like I always believed, the juice is in the journey as I have not reached the intellectual state which would confirm my destination. The Ultimate destination.

I think, this new chapter in my life is about this journey. Looking back, it seems as though I did have my moments to realise who I am as a person and how I look at myself.
As it stands, that was just a trailer. Its time to keep the movie going :-)