The nest of young eagles hung on every word as the Master Eagle described his exploits. This was an important day for the eaglets. They were preparing for their first solo flight from the nest. It was the confidence builder many of them needed to fulfill their destiny.
"How far can I travel?" asked one of the eaglets."How far can you see?" responded the Master Eagle."How high can I fly?" quizzed the young eaglet."How far can you stretch your wings?" asked the old eagle."How long can I fly?" the eaglet persisted."How far is the horizon?" the mentor rebounded."How much should I dream?" asked the eaglet."How much can you dream?" smiled the older, wiser eagle."How much can I achieve?" the young eagle continued."How much can you believe?" the old eagle challenged.
Frustrated by the banter, the young eagle demanded, "Why don't you answer my questions?""I did.""Yes. But you answered them with questions."
"I answered them the best I could.""But you're the Master Eagle. You're supposed to know everything. If you can't answer these questions, who can?""You." The old wise eagle reassured."Me? How?" the young eagle was confused."No one can tell you how high to fly or how much to dream. It's different for each eagle. Only God and you know how far you'll go. No one on this earth knows your potential or what's in your heart. You alone will answer that. The only thing that limits you is the edge of your imagination."
The young eagle puzzled by this asked, "What should I do?"
"Look to the horizon, spread your wings, and fly."
Tuesday 20 October 2009
Tuesday 8 September 2009
A little praise
I wonder how a small positive comment leaves a great impact on one's life. There are many people who can do so much more than their current capabilities if we praise them a little.
Being a punjabi born in Delhi, dance has always been a forbidden thing in our family and whenever I showed a desire to learn dance, my parents looked at me as I have made a blunder or asked them to do something very dirty. But today scenerio is completely different and that stigma is all gone. In South India, learning a classical dance has been compulsory for the girl children and I always find it so nice to see young girls of age 5-6 learning 'kathak' or 'Bharat-natyam'. And this practice has reached to Delhi too with little changes, because there I have found more dance schools of western dance. But at least people are realising the importance as it not only give you a new way to express but also good for health.
I have got my first opportunity to learn dance now when I have reached at the age of 38 but still it attracts me the same way as it did at my young age. And since I have started I found myself laughing at many odd moments. Today when my dance teacher praised and later advised me to learn 'kathak' I was overwhelmed and all those old memories comes to my mind.
I wish parents should listen to their kids and let them learn and do what they want without any stigma attached to it.
Being a punjabi born in Delhi, dance has always been a forbidden thing in our family and whenever I showed a desire to learn dance, my parents looked at me as I have made a blunder or asked them to do something very dirty. But today scenerio is completely different and that stigma is all gone. In South India, learning a classical dance has been compulsory for the girl children and I always find it so nice to see young girls of age 5-6 learning 'kathak' or 'Bharat-natyam'. And this practice has reached to Delhi too with little changes, because there I have found more dance schools of western dance. But at least people are realising the importance as it not only give you a new way to express but also good for health.
I have got my first opportunity to learn dance now when I have reached at the age of 38 but still it attracts me the same way as it did at my young age. And since I have started I found myself laughing at many odd moments. Today when my dance teacher praised and later advised me to learn 'kathak' I was overwhelmed and all those old memories comes to my mind.
I wish parents should listen to their kids and let them learn and do what they want without any stigma attached to it.
Sunday 16 August 2009
New Law in Afghanistan - No sex no food
Afghanistan has given power to men of Shia to deny food and other facilities to their wives if they refuse sex. It cannot be worst than this and what else can be expected from a country like Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai has also passed the law to increase his vote power and statistics also confirm the increase in his votepower after this law. We talk about freedom and on the other side we see all this humiliation. Most of the barberic situations does not even come out in the public. Women can't go out, listen music or work at their will was not sufficient and now another law of 'No sex no food' . How much down the dignity these Afghani can go?? Another law of giving 'blood money' to the victim of rape. It is getting into my nerves ...how can people be so shameless and absolutely fearless about the barberic charge of 'Rape' No wonder if people do not want to visit places like Afghanistan. All the women of Afghanistan should kill their girl child at the time of birth itself instead of getting their child to this brutal act.
Tuesday 11 August 2009
Teen tantrums
It is really difficult to take emotional care of a child specially when he is entering into teenage. I used to believe that birth of a child is the most difficult time but it is the most easiest by far. Rather bringing up a child is far more difficult. In the initial years...feeding, changing nappies and general physical care also did not make me this tired.
Manas has started auguing on most of the issues and believes that I can never understand his point of view. Sometimes I am best mother on this earth and most of the times he just can't live with me. The only good thing is that he expresses all his emotions without any fear or shame, which is difficult to handle but at least there is no need to keep on asking about feelings. It will be even more frustrating if he does not share his emotions.
Everyday tasks like waking up in the morning or come for studies without any reminders are some tiny issues but most difficult which I am facing with him in this age. He has always been an obedient child and I am not used to see this behaviour but now-a-days, not only tantrums but also justifying them is making my life miserable. I spend more time on convincing them for the right attitude and wonder when they will become responsible enough to handle the things on their own? 'Respect your time' or 'Take care of your stuff or your room' are the daily phrases I use and they don't listen...can anybody help how to convince children about some basics. Even punishments like disallowing TV or going out does not work. Feel free to send some tips :)
Manas has started auguing on most of the issues and believes that I can never understand his point of view. Sometimes I am best mother on this earth and most of the times he just can't live with me. The only good thing is that he expresses all his emotions without any fear or shame, which is difficult to handle but at least there is no need to keep on asking about feelings. It will be even more frustrating if he does not share his emotions.
Everyday tasks like waking up in the morning or come for studies without any reminders are some tiny issues but most difficult which I am facing with him in this age. He has always been an obedient child and I am not used to see this behaviour but now-a-days, not only tantrums but also justifying them is making my life miserable. I spend more time on convincing them for the right attitude and wonder when they will become responsible enough to handle the things on their own? 'Respect your time' or 'Take care of your stuff or your room' are the daily phrases I use and they don't listen...can anybody help how to convince children about some basics. Even punishments like disallowing TV or going out does not work. Feel free to send some tips :)
Friday 31 July 2009
LOVE AAJKAL
Today I watched movie 'Love Aajkal' with kids, my friend and her two sons. I always enjoy watching movie or roam around with my kids. It is great fun. Everytime Tanay goes out of home, we three are either too sad or too happy with each other...very rarely everything gets normal or routine.
The movie is cool and very well presented. I enjoyed every bit of it specially the message it conveyed about the love of today and yesteryears. Today's generation is running for their careers and have no time for emotions. How they think about everything with their head and never consider the inner most emotions of heart. It is beautifully picturised story with good music and lovely cinamatography. Today evening watched the review of the movie from 'Omar Querashi' and he also rated the movie as 'good'. I think it is must watch for today's generation. They look at love and its commitment as the 'foolish' concept which is not true.
I am happy to see that we have not lead a 'mango type' life....you will understand this line only when you watch the movie :)
The movie is cool and very well presented. I enjoyed every bit of it specially the message it conveyed about the love of today and yesteryears. Today's generation is running for their careers and have no time for emotions. How they think about everything with their head and never consider the inner most emotions of heart. It is beautifully picturised story with good music and lovely cinamatography. Today evening watched the review of the movie from 'Omar Querashi' and he also rated the movie as 'good'. I think it is must watch for today's generation. They look at love and its commitment as the 'foolish' concept which is not true.
I am happy to see that we have not lead a 'mango type' life....you will understand this line only when you watch the movie :)
Tuesday 21 July 2009
Weekend outing to Jungle Retreat
Last saturday we went to Jungle retreat, Ooty downhills to enjoy our weekend.
We started our journey at 6 o'clock in the morning and took a break in Cafe coffee day at Mysore Road. We were so hungry and ate spinach sandwitches (Ajay's favourite) alongwith caffee and pastry. It was raining heavily and was difficult to drive but Tanay is very safe driver and without any halt we reached to Jungle Retreat by 11:30 am. On the way, we saw many fields of sunflowers which were looking so beautiful. We took some pics in the field.
Jungle retreat is a beatiful resort with the raw beauty of Jungle. They don't serve food in the rooms to avoid the food smell in the rooms as it can attract rats and snakes in the cottage. We liked the concept which ensures all the guests of the resort to meet in the common area where food was served. There is also arrangement of games like pool table, carrom, cards and foose ball. Kids enjoyed their time playing fooseball. The food was awesome and a combination of continental and thai, as they had many foreigner guests in the resort. Specially thai potato and grilled vegies were awesome. We also enjoyed chinese noodles at lunch. After reaching back to cottage we four played Cobra (a game of cards) where Ajay won and later me and Tanay took a nap, whereas kids went out for a stroll. Ruth (the resort manager) informed us about the animals living in the resort like deer, pigs, goats, dogs, cats, porcupines, venomous and non-venomous snakes etc. When I woke up by 6 o'clock, I was really scared as kids were still not in the cottage. I woke up Tanay who informed that kids came to cottage twice and went back to enjoy the weather and place. Kids were again back in 5 min and so excited as they saw goats and deers just outside our cottage. Deers were running and looking so beautiful. Kids also took us to the other side of Resort to show some more deers. We saw some snake whole on the way. Ajay played with Bones and Gunda ( the two dogs) who were very friendly. (Ajay is very fond of animals especially dogs).
We freshen up and went for some tea and coffee in the common area where we met some other guests too. Tanay and I also played carrom and foose ball with kids. We came back to our cottage after dinner. Everybody was so tired but still played another game of cards. Manas also read a novel at night which he borrowed from Ruth. It rained whole night and we were not able to see the mountains (the view outside our cottage), as they were hidden behind clouds in the morning. Deers were again back outside our cottage for grazing. It was a beautiful morning. We had our breakfast and ready to drive back and suddenly got message from Souvik that Bridge near Nanjangud is cracked and traffic is diverted through some village. We started our drive at 12 noon and reached back home by 6:30 due to the diversion. It was pathetic road and Tanay had driven 30 km extra on way back. He was so tired but still it was nice outing. Here are some pics
http://picasaweb.google.com/tanaymanika/JungleRetreat#
We started our journey at 6 o'clock in the morning and took a break in Cafe coffee day at Mysore Road. We were so hungry and ate spinach sandwitches (Ajay's favourite) alongwith caffee and pastry. It was raining heavily and was difficult to drive but Tanay is very safe driver and without any halt we reached to Jungle Retreat by 11:30 am. On the way, we saw many fields of sunflowers which were looking so beautiful. We took some pics in the field.
Jungle retreat is a beatiful resort with the raw beauty of Jungle. They don't serve food in the rooms to avoid the food smell in the rooms as it can attract rats and snakes in the cottage. We liked the concept which ensures all the guests of the resort to meet in the common area where food was served. There is also arrangement of games like pool table, carrom, cards and foose ball. Kids enjoyed their time playing fooseball. The food was awesome and a combination of continental and thai, as they had many foreigner guests in the resort. Specially thai potato and grilled vegies were awesome. We also enjoyed chinese noodles at lunch. After reaching back to cottage we four played Cobra (a game of cards) where Ajay won and later me and Tanay took a nap, whereas kids went out for a stroll. Ruth (the resort manager) informed us about the animals living in the resort like deer, pigs, goats, dogs, cats, porcupines, venomous and non-venomous snakes etc. When I woke up by 6 o'clock, I was really scared as kids were still not in the cottage. I woke up Tanay who informed that kids came to cottage twice and went back to enjoy the weather and place. Kids were again back in 5 min and so excited as they saw goats and deers just outside our cottage. Deers were running and looking so beautiful. Kids also took us to the other side of Resort to show some more deers. We saw some snake whole on the way. Ajay played with Bones and Gunda ( the two dogs) who were very friendly. (Ajay is very fond of animals especially dogs).
We freshen up and went for some tea and coffee in the common area where we met some other guests too. Tanay and I also played carrom and foose ball with kids. We came back to our cottage after dinner. Everybody was so tired but still played another game of cards. Manas also read a novel at night which he borrowed from Ruth. It rained whole night and we were not able to see the mountains (the view outside our cottage), as they were hidden behind clouds in the morning. Deers were again back outside our cottage for grazing. It was a beautiful morning. We had our breakfast and ready to drive back and suddenly got message from Souvik that Bridge near Nanjangud is cracked and traffic is diverted through some village. We started our drive at 12 noon and reached back home by 6:30 due to the diversion. It was pathetic road and Tanay had driven 30 km extra on way back. He was so tired but still it was nice outing. Here are some pics
http://picasaweb.google.com/tanaymanika/JungleRetreat#
Thursday 16 July 2009
Zamana badal rahaa hai
In last few days I have heard many stories and comments which made me realise that time is changing.
I have always been an admiror of the people who raise their voice against something wrong. Perhaps because I have always been taught to tolerate everything possible and I don't like that. I also enjoy movies like 'Rang de basanti', 'Guru' or 'A Wednesday', where rebellious attitude is shown. In last few day, few things like calling Mr. Nandan Nilekani to create a unique identification no. for the citizen of India to remove the mediators from the system, Lokayukta comment in frustration published in TOI 'Please make the corruption legalised or give some powers to remove corruption' really made me think that time is changing for the betterment. At least people are ready to face the truth and as a famous say 'First step towards success is awareness'. I am happy to see that people are aware and ready to face the truth.
Today I read an article on how a person has paid Rs 1100 fine instead of paying Rs. 300 bribe to a traffic inspector and reported the incident to the ACP of Bangalore thru a website and his complaint was not only heard but the inspector also got suspended within 3 days. People are ready to make their hands dirty to clean the dirt of their country. I'm sure these small incidents will surely make a change although it is just a drop in the ocean but movement is taking place.
I have always been an admiror of the people who raise their voice against something wrong. Perhaps because I have always been taught to tolerate everything possible and I don't like that. I also enjoy movies like 'Rang de basanti', 'Guru' or 'A Wednesday', where rebellious attitude is shown. In last few day, few things like calling Mr. Nandan Nilekani to create a unique identification no. for the citizen of India to remove the mediators from the system, Lokayukta comment in frustration published in TOI 'Please make the corruption legalised or give some powers to remove corruption' really made me think that time is changing for the betterment. At least people are ready to face the truth and as a famous say 'First step towards success is awareness'. I am happy to see that people are aware and ready to face the truth.
Today I read an article on how a person has paid Rs 1100 fine instead of paying Rs. 300 bribe to a traffic inspector and reported the incident to the ACP of Bangalore thru a website and his complaint was not only heard but the inspector also got suspended within 3 days. People are ready to make their hands dirty to clean the dirt of their country. I'm sure these small incidents will surely make a change although it is just a drop in the ocean but movement is taking place.
Wednesday 15 July 2009
Kid's Talk
Till today I was under the impression that I am spending good quality time with kids once they are back home. We eat together and then go to play Badminton or Table-tennis almost everyday. I always want to go for walk in the evening and miss it for my children. Until Yesterday Ajay made me realise this...
I was getting ready to play Badminton with Ajay and when I reached near the badminton court, suddenly my phone rang, it was a call from Airtel to get the feedback on the services they are providing. I just gave an excuse of being busy and put my phone off. Ajay started dancing and I questioned him the reason. To my utter surprise, he answered 'I never thought I am that important for you that you disconneced your call by saying that you're busy' I smiled and realised that I take the calls everytime it rings...it is not that important but still we talk to our friends, relatives and general calls too...We never realise that kids are waiting and might be feeling unimportant. That moment I promised to myself to curtail my talk if I am doing something important with my children.
Kids teach us a lot :)
I was getting ready to play Badminton with Ajay and when I reached near the badminton court, suddenly my phone rang, it was a call from Airtel to get the feedback on the services they are providing. I just gave an excuse of being busy and put my phone off. Ajay started dancing and I questioned him the reason. To my utter surprise, he answered 'I never thought I am that important for you that you disconneced your call by saying that you're busy' I smiled and realised that I take the calls everytime it rings...it is not that important but still we talk to our friends, relatives and general calls too...We never realise that kids are waiting and might be feeling unimportant. That moment I promised to myself to curtail my talk if I am doing something important with my children.
Kids teach us a lot :)
Wednesday 17 June 2009
Our Munnar Visit
Last weekend we spent in Munnar with Tanay's parents. Munnar is a beautiful hill station of Kerala and is overnight journey from Bangalore. We had great fun with papa and mummy. Here are some pics of our trip
http://picasaweb.google.com/tanaymanika/Munnar2009#
Leave your comments :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/tanaymanika/Munnar2009#
Leave your comments :)
Monday 8 June 2009
Thought process
Manas is very fond of writing but lacking patience. Henceforth whatever he writes is not of very classy but sometimes hillarious....here are some thoughts of my elder son on the subjects he studies...
English
English, Oh! What a language
No connection with face or age
Never learnt by any sage
But still was used for stone age
English is so confusing
I don't think it's worth using
A man organised a ball
A kid then played with the ball
English yet is so good
Stories like Red Riding Hood
English was the language use
And learning it nothing we loose :)
History
Most boring subject History
It has no interesting story
Alexander's Army led
Learning it I scratch my head
History class I am in jail
When it ends I get my bail
I feel so bad
I'll soon get mad
History, I tell you
It has nothing new
What happened has happened there
Who, what , when and where?????
MATHS
Maths, Oh what a pain
Velocity size loss and gain
It's foundation is long lane
learning it I will go insane.
Addition and subtraction,
that is not my passion,
I hate maths a lot,
every problem is like a gun shot.
Some day I really start to think,
that maths and life have a link
everyday maths we use
and learning it nothing we lose!!!!
By
Manas Sharma
English
English, Oh! What a language
No connection with face or age
Never learnt by any sage
But still was used for stone age
English is so confusing
I don't think it's worth using
A man organised a ball
A kid then played with the ball
English yet is so good
Stories like Red Riding Hood
English was the language use
And learning it nothing we loose :)
History
Most boring subject History
It has no interesting story
Alexander's Army led
Learning it I scratch my head
History class I am in jail
When it ends I get my bail
I feel so bad
I'll soon get mad
History, I tell you
It has nothing new
What happened has happened there
Who, what , when and where?????
MATHS
Maths, Oh what a pain
Velocity size loss and gain
It's foundation is long lane
learning it I will go insane.
Addition and subtraction,
that is not my passion,
I hate maths a lot,
every problem is like a gun shot.
Some day I really start to think,
that maths and life have a link
everyday maths we use
and learning it nothing we lose!!!!
By
Manas Sharma
Another Poem by Manas "HOW YOU WIN"
Success does not come in a day
For this a foundation we must lay
Determination we must have always
Practice and practice for many days.
Success is failure turned inside out
Be sure of what, without a doubt
Work and work very hard
with concentration you must play your card
We must have an action plan
Do we must all that we can
So stick to the fight and never quit
Success sweater is slowly knit
Always remember that "YOU CAN"
All play also we mustn't ban
So go and practice more and more
Remember success is planned before
For this a foundation we must lay
Determination we must have always
Practice and practice for many days.
Success is failure turned inside out
Be sure of what, without a doubt
Work and work very hard
with concentration you must play your card
We must have an action plan
Do we must all that we can
So stick to the fight and never quit
Success sweater is slowly knit
Always remember that "YOU CAN"
All play also we mustn't ban
So go and practice more and more
Remember success is planned before
Wednesday 6 May 2009
Manpreet wedding
Here are some pics of the wedding.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tanaymanika/ManpreetWedding#
http://picasaweb.google.com/tanaymanika/ManpreetWedding#
Friday 24 April 2009
Delhi Trip
Ah..Finally we are back from our hectic vacations of Delhi and then Ahmadabad. Why we find home the best place? And if this is best then why we go for vacations time and again away from home :) It was a hectic but fun time in Delhi as we were there only for 6 days. I went to shop for a saree the day we landed in Delhi. I searched almost all the big shops of Central market and finally bought the saree from Karol Bagh - Roop Sarees. It is a beautiful pink saree with silver work on that. The same day I went to mom's house from MIL's house.
Delhi has really changed and people are not that friendly as I used to find it before. Auto driver has kept us waiting for more than half an hour on the gas station while going to mom's house. Finally around 8:30 Kids and I reached to Dilshad Colony. We had great time there and next morning I drove Papa's Maruti to his office. He has really made his office beautiful now. Bhabhi, Bhaiya, Tanay, Mom and all 4 kids came along and had great time there eating matar-kulcha. I love Delhi food and put on another few kgs in these days. I had Chhole bhature, paao bhaji, chuski etc. Delhi is not very hot at least the days we spent there. I also went to Gurgaon to meet Manpreet and Piya. All preparations of the marriage of Manpreet are completed and we were ready to attend her marriage in Ahmadabad. This time I met Sonia too who is doing well in her job but her husband's health is deteriorating day by day. It is really sad to see someone that sick at the age of 38. His kidney and nerves are getting impacted by diabeties and still not worried about his well being. I wish people should be more careful about their health. Bangaloreans are more health counscious than Delhi people. But overall it was nice time and now waiting for in-laws to reach here on Sunday :)
Delhi has really changed and people are not that friendly as I used to find it before. Auto driver has kept us waiting for more than half an hour on the gas station while going to mom's house. Finally around 8:30 Kids and I reached to Dilshad Colony. We had great time there and next morning I drove Papa's Maruti to his office. He has really made his office beautiful now. Bhabhi, Bhaiya, Tanay, Mom and all 4 kids came along and had great time there eating matar-kulcha. I love Delhi food and put on another few kgs in these days. I had Chhole bhature, paao bhaji, chuski etc. Delhi is not very hot at least the days we spent there. I also went to Gurgaon to meet Manpreet and Piya. All preparations of the marriage of Manpreet are completed and we were ready to attend her marriage in Ahmadabad. This time I met Sonia too who is doing well in her job but her husband's health is deteriorating day by day. It is really sad to see someone that sick at the age of 38. His kidney and nerves are getting impacted by diabeties and still not worried about his well being. I wish people should be more careful about their health. Bangaloreans are more health counscious than Delhi people. But overall it was nice time and now waiting for in-laws to reach here on Sunday :)
Monday 23 March 2009
Touching incident from Asha jeevan - An old age home
We have an old age home located approx. 3 km from my residence and I often visit them.
Yesterday I was cleaning my house and found some old pillows, bed sheets and mattress, which I felt will be useful for the old age home. My maid was looking at me when I was putting all the things in my car with great effort but did not ask any question. I took Ajay along with me and reached to Asha Jeevan.I went inside and asked for help. The organizers Kalpana and Sujata were talking to an old lady who was not able to speak but understood everything. She had thrown a piece of chocolate on the floor which I could see but others were busy in their talk. I was not able to understand anything as they were talking in Kannada. After a while one maid came and gave a box of sweets to Kalpana and she took out a burfi from the box and offered the same to the old lady. Her eyes were wet and she took the piece happily and started eating. Then maid helped the old lady to get up from the seat but she looked at the maid angrily to say that 'she can get up herself'! Maid left her hand and let her walk alone. After taking few steps the old lady stopped and we all were wondering "what is the problem now?" I couldn’t understand anything but Kalpana could see the old lady's diaper coming out of her legs. She advised the maid to put the diaper back and take the lady in her room. I left the things there with the help of a maid and came back.
On the way I was completely quite and thinking. No money can buy the care Kalpana and Sujata provides in that old age home. The old lady had thrown the chocolate because she didn't like that and took the burfi very nicely. Organizers and maids of the old age home spends the entire time with these old people, doing all the chores as we do our daily cleaning or cooking. They don’t feel any burden and understands the feeling of these old people. I visited them many times earlier and every time I bring a memory with me which makes me even stronger.
We don't have time to spend with these old people but at least we can visit them occasionally and distribute some of need. I love talking to old people but visiting old age home makes me depressed sometimes. My younger son Ajay is also very sensitive and doesn’t like visiting these places with me. But Manas is sensible and talks to people as if they are his friends. He went with his school friends and chanted some Bhajans once in this old age home which was a memorable experience.
I personally feel that everybody should be connected to one of such kind of organizations - old age home, children care home or physically impaired people home. This teaches lesson and gives a feeling of contentment :)
Yesterday I was cleaning my house and found some old pillows, bed sheets and mattress, which I felt will be useful for the old age home. My maid was looking at me when I was putting all the things in my car with great effort but did not ask any question. I took Ajay along with me and reached to Asha Jeevan.I went inside and asked for help. The organizers Kalpana and Sujata were talking to an old lady who was not able to speak but understood everything. She had thrown a piece of chocolate on the floor which I could see but others were busy in their talk. I was not able to understand anything as they were talking in Kannada. After a while one maid came and gave a box of sweets to Kalpana and she took out a burfi from the box and offered the same to the old lady. Her eyes were wet and she took the piece happily and started eating. Then maid helped the old lady to get up from the seat but she looked at the maid angrily to say that 'she can get up herself'! Maid left her hand and let her walk alone. After taking few steps the old lady stopped and we all were wondering "what is the problem now?" I couldn’t understand anything but Kalpana could see the old lady's diaper coming out of her legs. She advised the maid to put the diaper back and take the lady in her room. I left the things there with the help of a maid and came back.
On the way I was completely quite and thinking. No money can buy the care Kalpana and Sujata provides in that old age home. The old lady had thrown the chocolate because she didn't like that and took the burfi very nicely. Organizers and maids of the old age home spends the entire time with these old people, doing all the chores as we do our daily cleaning or cooking. They don’t feel any burden and understands the feeling of these old people. I visited them many times earlier and every time I bring a memory with me which makes me even stronger.
We don't have time to spend with these old people but at least we can visit them occasionally and distribute some of need. I love talking to old people but visiting old age home makes me depressed sometimes. My younger son Ajay is also very sensitive and doesn’t like visiting these places with me. But Manas is sensible and talks to people as if they are his friends. He went with his school friends and chanted some Bhajans once in this old age home which was a memorable experience.
I personally feel that everybody should be connected to one of such kind of organizations - old age home, children care home or physically impaired people home. This teaches lesson and gives a feeling of contentment :)
Tuesday 17 February 2009
"Vacations" from Manas
Vacations are a time of year
where happiness and child are near
when everyone is free from studies
and only job is to play with buddies
We all enjoy vacations
in one way or the other
And all hearts have illuminations
and wish we have another
Vacations are the time to play
and studies are like needle in a hay
play in every possible way
and in the house no one wants to stay
Vacations Vacations Vacations
we all are waiting for you......
where happiness and child are near
when everyone is free from studies
and only job is to play with buddies
We all enjoy vacations
in one way or the other
And all hearts have illuminations
and wish we have another
Vacations are the time to play
and studies are like needle in a hay
play in every possible way
and in the house no one wants to stay
Vacations Vacations Vacations
we all are waiting for you......
A story about Saturadays of our lives
The older we get, the more we enjoy Saturday morning. Perhaps it’s the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it’s the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
“Well, it sure sounds like we’re busy with our job. I’m sure they pay well but it’s bad to be away from home and our family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It’s too bad we missed our precious moments,” Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.” And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.”
“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.
“Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, I’m getting to the important part.
It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail,” he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.”
Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.
There’s nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.
It was nice to meet you. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here. This is a 75 year old man, clear and going, good morning!”
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.” “What brought this on?” she asked with a smile.
“Oh, nothing special, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”
“Well, it sure sounds like we’re busy with our job. I’m sure they pay well but it’s bad to be away from home and our family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It’s too bad we missed our precious moments,” Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.” And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.”
“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.
“Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, I’m getting to the important part.
It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail,” he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.”
Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.
There’s nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.
It was nice to meet you. I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here. This is a 75 year old man, clear and going, good morning!”
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.” “What brought this on?” she asked with a smile.
“Oh, nothing special, it’s just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”
Friday 30 January 2009
CIBIL report and Bank Loans
With the current economic crises and cash crunch, banks are very careful about lending money. They closely watch the credit history of the person or organisation which has applied for loan and CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau of Indian Ltd) is quite helpful to get the credit history of the person and organisation. A littel default can also be reported by the bank and can spoil the rating of the person. With the increasing defaults in payments, this facility is really useful for the banks and financial institutions for lending money.
But there is another side of the story. This is my personal experience and extremely bitter.
Tanay is very prompt in his all payments - be it loan instalment or the credit card payment. I have never seen him late by even a day. Sometimes when there is a wrong charge mentioned in the statement and I ask him to ignore the statement by saying - When you know it is incorrect just forget and don't make payment, but he talks to the bank to make all the correction at their end too.
Few months back We applied for the housing loan transfer but they simply rejected our application without mentioning proper reason of that. We too ignored as it was not very important for us. Later, Tanay applied for Citi bank card and that too got rejected, this time Tanay was upset but I told him to forget about it as he is already having many credit cards. Finally one day, An executive from American Express approached and this time again Tanay filled the application for platinum card but to our utter surprise, his application was again rejected. We both worked with American Express few years back and therefore they have attached the CIBIL report alongwith the rejection letter where we found about our credit history.
It was not only shocking but frustrating to see that no more information was provided except a default of Rs. 2000 with some bank without mentioning bank name or credit card no. by which we could have got more information. I started surfing about CIBIL and wrote a mail to them. They sent us the bank name and credit card no. After many reminders we found from the bank that was annual fee of the credit card which we have already surrendered to the bank 5 year back and sent the card in two pieces back to the bank. I remember this distinctly because I came to know about Jay Nagar post office for this context only. But I never got a clearance letter from the bank and I never bothered about it as it was not important for us.
After CIBIL report we contacted the bank and wrote approx 20 reminder mails and many calls and visits to the bank, they still charged us Rs. 1300 for the settlement and wrote back an apology letter for the wrong reporting to CIBIL.
But there is another side of the story. This is my personal experience and extremely bitter.
Tanay is very prompt in his all payments - be it loan instalment or the credit card payment. I have never seen him late by even a day. Sometimes when there is a wrong charge mentioned in the statement and I ask him to ignore the statement by saying - When you know it is incorrect just forget and don't make payment, but he talks to the bank to make all the correction at their end too.
Few months back We applied for the housing loan transfer but they simply rejected our application without mentioning proper reason of that. We too ignored as it was not very important for us. Later, Tanay applied for Citi bank card and that too got rejected, this time Tanay was upset but I told him to forget about it as he is already having many credit cards. Finally one day, An executive from American Express approached and this time again Tanay filled the application for platinum card but to our utter surprise, his application was again rejected. We both worked with American Express few years back and therefore they have attached the CIBIL report alongwith the rejection letter where we found about our credit history.
It was not only shocking but frustrating to see that no more information was provided except a default of Rs. 2000 with some bank without mentioning bank name or credit card no. by which we could have got more information. I started surfing about CIBIL and wrote a mail to them. They sent us the bank name and credit card no. After many reminders we found from the bank that was annual fee of the credit card which we have already surrendered to the bank 5 year back and sent the card in two pieces back to the bank. I remember this distinctly because I came to know about Jay Nagar post office for this context only. But I never got a clearance letter from the bank and I never bothered about it as it was not important for us.
After CIBIL report we contacted the bank and wrote approx 20 reminder mails and many calls and visits to the bank, they still charged us Rs. 1300 for the settlement and wrote back an apology letter for the wrong reporting to CIBIL.
There is another charge with other bank and after investigation we found it is about another credit card which we had surrendered in 2002 in Delhi. We never got any reminder letter from the bank about annual charges as we stayed in the same house for another 2 years. There is another annual fee of Rs. 1000 shown pending, which is now Rs. 14000 with late fee charges. Who should be blamed for these charges. At least CIBIL should not believe blindly on bank's report and should see that the charge are not the annual fee on which no purchases are made since then. We are still writing mails to this bank and only god knows when this will be cleared and how much more effort will go behind this. Our CIBIL report has shown credit limit as 93 lacs and just with few thousands, it has shown negative credit rating.
These services are good for lending money but with every right there is lot of responsibility attached and in this case, banks should be extremely careful before reporting any rating to CIBIL and likewise CIBIL should also check the transactions of the default payments.
Wednesday 28 January 2009
कुछ बातें हिन्दी में
मुझे ब्लाग लिखने में मजा आने लगा है और अपनी भावनाएँ प्रकट करने का इससे अच्छा तरीका क्या हो सकता है। अब तो रोज एक नये विषय पर अपने विचार लिखना अच्छा लगता है। कभी कभी बच्चों की बातें भी लिखने को उकसाती हैं। हिन्दी में अभिव्यक्ति भी इसी की कोशिश है।
आज सुबह सैर पर जाते हुए पहली बार मैने 'Luck by chance' का 'सपनों से भरे नैना' गाना पूरा सुना। सुनकर बहुत अच्छा लगा। ये लेखक भी जादुगर होते हैं कितनी गहरी बातें इतनी सहजता से कह जाते हैं। सुख और चैन के अंतर को बहुत सही बताया गया है। जावेद अख्तर ने बहुत सुन्दर गीत लिखा है। हम जितने चाहे बाहरी दुनिया में सुख ढूंढ लें लेकिन चैन हमें अपने अंदर ही मिलेगा और उसका मिलना भी हमारे अपने ही बस में है। हम कहीं चैन लेना चाहते भी हैं या सब कुछ बाहर ही ढूंढ रहे हैं। सपने कभी खत्म नहीं होते और होने भी नही चाहिए वरना जीवन रुक जाएगा लेकिन सपनों के पीछे वर्तमान को भोगना नही छोड़ देना चाहिए।
अब तो इंतज़ार है इस मूवी को देखने का......
Jaaved Akhtar is a great writer....hats off to him :) and I like Farhan Akhtar a lot, specially after watching 'Oye! its Friday' :)
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Weekend spent with the family and friends
This was a long weekend with Rupublic Day holiday on Monday and we had great time with family and some layout friends.
On Saturday, Manas was busy in his school for Rupublic Day preparations and Tanay, Ajay and I played badminton and later Tanay and Ajay went for swimming also. Ajay was so confident and happy to be with his parents alone. I realised how important to spend sometime alone with the kids seperately. In the evening, we went out for Go-karting and dinner at Country Club with some layout friends. Manas and Ajay did go-karting first time and they were very happy and excited. Dinner at Country club was also great. Kids played a lot and it was great fun.
Sunday was all rest time for the whole family and on Monday Manas and Ajay went for Republic Day celebrations to the school. Here are some pics of Manas from the celebration :) Later all four of us went for badminton in the clubhouse. Tanay and Ajay were partners for double game and we thoroughly enjoyed. Ajji could play much better than Manas :). Manas and I lost the first game but it was great fun. After this we had played some singles and enjoyed together. Kids are growing and becoming our friends now. We all enjoy all kind of sports as a family which is not only enjoyable but quite satisfying :)
Thursday 22 January 2009
Some beautiful quotes I picked up and loved to mentioned on my blog:
The higher a man gets, the smaller he seems to those who cannot fly.
Friedrich Nietzsche
German philosopher (1844 - 1900)
Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the
public and have no self.
Cyrilla Connelly
I was brought up to believe that how I saw myself was more important than
how others saw me.
Anwar el-Sadat
Egyptian politician (1918 - 1981)
I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule
of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.
Frederick Douglas
It really doesn’t matter if the person who hurt you deserves to be forgiven.
Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. You have things to do and you want
to move on.
Anonymous author
Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.
Janis Joplin
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in
harmony.
Mahatma Gandhi
Drawing a line in relationships
Since last few days I am experiencing a turbulence in some of my relationships and started wondering 'Where to draw a line in the relationship'. I am very emotional and sensitive for my friends and care a lot about them. Being an active member of the society I love to do something different and that boost my morale too. I remember those days when I was extremely busy with my family and job in the school but still was able to spare time for the layout activities - arranging parties, doing accounts maintenance of the association or attending various meetings related to the welfare of the layout. But, off late things are changed and insisted me to retrospect where I went wrong. In last few months I lost few 'friends' may be they were there only for my good times only.
I have been talking to people and I always loved it but recently I am unable to understand and draw a line, so that I respect my privacy and let others also do the same. This feeling is making me even more introvert and unsure about my conduct. Yesterday one of my friend whom I like talking, called me at 12:30am without any important thing to discuss, very unusual and hurtful. I don't like people calling me after 10pm as that is my family or personal time, and this made me thinking - Am I giving lot of liberty to my friends???
I have been talking to people and I always loved it but recently I am unable to understand and draw a line, so that I respect my privacy and let others also do the same. This feeling is making me even more introvert and unsure about my conduct. Yesterday one of my friend whom I like talking, called me at 12:30am without any important thing to discuss, very unusual and hurtful. I don't like people calling me after 10pm as that is my family or personal time, and this made me thinking - Am I giving lot of liberty to my friends???
Tuesday 20 January 2009
BARACK H OBAMA - The New President of US
Yesterday we watched the oath ceremony and speech of the new President of US, Mr. Barack Obama. Initially his facial expressions were quite nervous and then with pride he gave a long speech about being friendly with all the peaceful countries and some other points too..
It took me a year before during olympic session of China. Abhinav Bindra won the first individual gold medal in shooting, and then India had all the hopes on its wrestlers and boxers. Just a day before the final match, all the boxer and wrestlers were put into so much pressure of 'HOPE' of India to win more golds and ultimately they could not take that pressure and satisfied with Bronze or silver medals. All the news channels were gathered in their homes and raised the expectation of the families too. I felt that this all could have waited for one more day. May be they might not have been in that tremendous pressure of expectations and would have given their best performance without any pressure.
Same thing is happenning with Obama. All the country and world are showing lot of expectations as he only will solve all the problems of economy, hatred and terrorism. It never happens, he might give direction or maximum he can give his policies but with these many hopes and pressure, I think, he first have to make himself calm to see through those expectations. Things will move slowly and steadily if Mr. Obama will get the support of the people and not only their expectations....
It took me a year before during olympic session of China. Abhinav Bindra won the first individual gold medal in shooting, and then India had all the hopes on its wrestlers and boxers. Just a day before the final match, all the boxer and wrestlers were put into so much pressure of 'HOPE' of India to win more golds and ultimately they could not take that pressure and satisfied with Bronze or silver medals. All the news channels were gathered in their homes and raised the expectation of the families too. I felt that this all could have waited for one more day. May be they might not have been in that tremendous pressure of expectations and would have given their best performance without any pressure.
Same thing is happenning with Obama. All the country and world are showing lot of expectations as he only will solve all the problems of economy, hatred and terrorism. It never happens, he might give direction or maximum he can give his policies but with these many hopes and pressure, I think, he first have to make himself calm to see through those expectations. Things will move slowly and steadily if Mr. Obama will get the support of the people and not only their expectations....
Sunday 18 January 2009
Tatkal booking in IRCTC - Benefit for the public and we also have some responsibility
Yesterday I read the news about Indian Railways income through TATKAL scheme, where tickets can be booked online 5 days before the journey. The revenue has reached upto Rs. 300 crores all over the country. Under this scheme, few trains have some reserved tickets quota which gets released on 5 days prior to the journey date and it can be booked by paying some additional cost ( Rs. 150 to Rs. 300) over the ticket charges.
Personally we have been benefitted by this scheme many a times and thankful to IRCTC online booking which can be done from home. It is an excellent scheme which reduces the burden and sometimes we can plan travel in a short time. Being away from the family in Delhi it is always a security which IRCTC has provided to us. Whenever we have some waitlisted ticket then we check the status 5 days prior to the journey and if not confirmed then book the same in Tatkal quota.
But we should understand the other side picture also and if we have some tickets booked in advance then all the unwanted tickets should get cancelled 5 days prior to the journey date so all the wait listed passengers should know the actual status on time and can book the tickets accordingly in TATKAL quota. If we cancel the ticket later then it will have no benefit to the waitlisted passenger as they book it through TATKAL quota.
Personally I experienced it twice that I booked the tickets in Tatkal quota and later my waitlisted ticket also got confirmed. It was frustrating but can't help. Although this is not the only reason as IRCTC also release quota of some tickets once all the Tatkal booking is completed till the end date and sometimes it gets confirmed while preparing the chart.
But all said and done, Tatkal is a good attempt from Indian railways and we should reap all the benefits of this. As a citizen we all can understand our responsibility and cancel all the unwanted tickets 5 days prior to the journey date :-)
Personally we have been benefitted by this scheme many a times and thankful to IRCTC online booking which can be done from home. It is an excellent scheme which reduces the burden and sometimes we can plan travel in a short time. Being away from the family in Delhi it is always a security which IRCTC has provided to us. Whenever we have some waitlisted ticket then we check the status 5 days prior to the journey and if not confirmed then book the same in Tatkal quota.
But we should understand the other side picture also and if we have some tickets booked in advance then all the unwanted tickets should get cancelled 5 days prior to the journey date so all the wait listed passengers should know the actual status on time and can book the tickets accordingly in TATKAL quota. If we cancel the ticket later then it will have no benefit to the waitlisted passenger as they book it through TATKAL quota.
Personally I experienced it twice that I booked the tickets in Tatkal quota and later my waitlisted ticket also got confirmed. It was frustrating but can't help. Although this is not the only reason as IRCTC also release quota of some tickets once all the Tatkal booking is completed till the end date and sometimes it gets confirmed while preparing the chart.
But all said and done, Tatkal is a good attempt from Indian railways and we should reap all the benefits of this. As a citizen we all can understand our responsibility and cancel all the unwanted tickets 5 days prior to the journey date :-)
Wednesday 14 January 2009
P Chidambaram's view on Pak's procrastination views
So finally P Chidambaram has the same view as me and Tanay are discussing since many days. It is approx. 2 months now since Pakistan is denying on the proofs and taking it as mere information. It is not only saddening but frustrating also for the Indian Govt and other people having the same view.
Our neighbouring country is smart enough to avoid all the pressures and keep everyone in utter confusion. No proof is sufficient unless there is a willingness of action. After Kandhar hijack issue, it is clear that Maulana Masood Azhar is staying in Pakistan and enjoying his freedom. There is no proof needed in that case but nothing has happened and safe shelter is provided by ISI and Pak official. Many a times in the news this issue was discussed but all in vein. What's the use and what are we scared off. The only problem is that we are a peaceloving country and Pak is taking all the benefits of that. I am very happy to see PC's view of snaping all the ties, be it business, tourism, art or music or any other emotional ties of people. All should be cut off unless Islamabad takes a firm action on the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Not only India but all the countries having same opinion on terror attack should not entertain any Pak national in their country. This will pressurise Pak Govt through its own people to take action at the earliest. As of now there is no deadline assigned for the action by the Indian Govt. but I hope this will help to take the issue one step ahead.
Saturday 10 January 2009
Our vacation in Kodaikanal - December 20-24, 2008
Some memories of Kodaikanal. Although not as pictureseque as Munnar but we had great fun near Kodai Lake. I cycled after 20 years and really had great fun. Manas and ajay had horse riding, cycling and boating. Here are some pics too
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