Chest up…Chin up…

Lots of people may wonder what this blog is about…However, those who are/were in armed forces or NCC or who have friends or relatives in defence may find the terminology quite normal…

Chest up…chin up is usually a command to make the soldiers chest up and chin up physically. Its a sign that the soldier is bold and courageous enough to face any hurdle that is in front of him. My dad being a NCC officer(in the past) used to tell this to me whenever we walk togather..

Trust me, standing that way or walking that way makes us feel so confident. It gives a new energy and people around us are also bombarded by the same energy. You also get an attitude in you which gives you all the energy to face anything.

Attitude is something people often consider as bad…I have heard comments saying “He/She has too much of attitude…” Look at it..its “too much” which is the catch here. Otherwise attitude is good. Attitude is what protects you from people. People, who often try to tamper our confidence levels by words, deeds or both. Attitude is what protects us from all of those kind of people and also sometimes does not show up our vulnerability so easily.

Personally, I feel attitude is a reflection of our confidence. They both go hand in hand. You have self-confidence and you have an attitude too. No one can deny that, but most of us don’t really know its attitude.

Now, that does not mean that you should not respect others or tamper them or hurt them because of your attitude. That also does not mean you should not be so easily approachable.Use it as shield and not as a sword

Chest up…Chin up..With a lot of confidence and positive attitude…Enjoy life!

 

Innoru kirukkal….

Vazhkaiku dhaan ethanaai parimanangaal,
Andha parimanangalil dhaan ethaain thirupangal,
Thirupangalil dhaan ethainaai valaivu nelivugaal…

Thodarandhu sendralum…
Thodramal irundhalum…
Thodarandhu varum ennangal…

Engeey thodangi..engeey mudyum…
Engum thodaramal nindru pona latchiyangaal…
Mudiya mudiya thodarum pudhu pudhu vazhigal..

Vazhkayum ulagamum oru vattam…
Ner kottil kadandhalum…
Valivu nelvil kadandhalum…

Thodakamum mudivum ondreey…
Dhuraam mattum veru…

 

Miles to go before I sleep…

Whenever this word comes to my mind…I feel, I have a lot more to do. Well, we all feel that too…The days seem to be running faster. I am understanding what speed of light or wink of eyes means these days…24 hours does not seem enough. 

Some other times I also feel, I am not planning my time properly. This seems continous and never ending. I feel Robert Frost’s words are true, we got to keep running to keep up with time

Whose woods these are I think I know. 
His house is in the village, though; 
He will not see me stopping here 
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer 

To stop without a farmhouse near 
Between the woods and frozen lake 
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake 
To ask if there’s some mistake. 
The only other sound’s the sweep 
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, 
But I have promises to keep, 
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

So lets keep running…!!

 

Relationships are delicate…

I did not feel so, for so long, that relationships are delicate. Relationships are made with level of understanding and kind of bonding. The configuration of relationship is really hard to explain in terms of words. Day to day, each and every relationship  towards each and every human varies. I may not talk the same to a stranger as I talk to my best buddy…The chemistry and quantity of various chemicals involved in each relationship does vary and keeps varying from time to time.

The time we take to understand people, the time it takes for the relationship to grow and mature are some deterministic factors which contribute towards the bond and time of a relationship.

What was new to me was…Relationships impact relationships, sounds confusing…yes, as it was to me till I felt it in recent days. Yes, very true..relationships impact relationships meaning my relationship with X will impact my relationship with Y…I am not sure if this is true in all the cases, I realized it was true in my case

Relationships are delicate too…They need care…The care, equvalent to caring a rose plant or any other plant in your garden. Incase, the rose plant dies off due to some reason..there is no way you can get it back even if you stand upside down May be you could buy another rose plant of the same kind, but for sure you will miss your old rose plan (old is gold)

I was about to lose such a rose due to lose of care or unexpected mishap…but my good time the after effects were not so bad to really lose the rose…But I am feeling the thorns in the rose after this mishap which I had never felt before. And thus, relationships are delicate in their own way…

So own a relationship. Own the good and bad of it…Care for it…Groom and grow it…Cherish and feel it…Don’t ever lose it…

 

One song I got addicted to the most…

Music does play a import role in my life…

I listen to music almost 8-10 hours a day…During the time I go to office, while at work and while coming back…and its almost like I am living with music…

Recently, listened to this track to which I got addicted the most…May be voice of the singers or may be the lyrics, but this dong is really good And I am very sure this would take a special place in heart of every loving pair around the world…

Just close your eyes when you listen to the song and *if* you are in love, you would certainly see the face or image of your loved/beloved ones in front of your eyes…try it !!!

 

Need or Want!!??

Yes, what we want badly, so badly that we are ready to sacrifice anything for it is not always what we need.  And what’s really good for us is not what we always want…This is an old lesson which I learned, but which I forget often…

This is not just for me, but for all of us…There is always a difference between a need and want…If I am getting it right, need is something without which life cannot go any further and want is something which is auxiliary that can make life better by its presence but not certainly THE best… Also, a need is something without which you cannot live…but a want is something which can always be compensated or let go or replaced…

There are some things which leave an impression in our heart, mind and soul; this impression creates an illusion which makes us think that we are really in need of that SOMETHING. But stop right there, it’s an impression or a pleasant memory. Because, it has affected us so much we feel we NEED it, but sit back and think if it’s a really a need or a want…You can always get anything you want, but what really matters is how badly you need it…

As Paul Coelho says in The Alchemist,

“When you want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you achieve it”

And I would say,

“When you need something badly, the whole universe conspires in helping you achieve it”

Personally, I feel this is the difference between a need and a want. If you have anything more to add on or change in this, do comment

 

Matter of choice or chance??

I have always felt this, most of the times, life just was a matter of chance for me…Some times for good and some times for bad !!!

One such good example was, I never wanted to set my foot into Java programming. I don’t know for what so reasons…I never liked it as a language…But, when my first job forced me to be a java programmer, I started loving Java like anything. It has become my passion in other words

That was one good example of life was a matter of chance…similarly, there are lot of bad examples too. However, as humans we just prefer good ones {natural human tendency}…

I liked one of the quotes from spider man -3,

” Whatever comes our way, whatever battle we have raging inside us, we always have a choice. My friend Harry taught me that. He chose to be the best of himself. It’s the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what’s right.”

First read these lines in one of my friends blog, but when I saw it in the movie, I really liked it. I felt each and every word in it is true…We always have a choice, whatever is the situation!!! Its which choice we prefer to choose that decides the what we will be or what we are or what we were

Forget about situations where you don’t have a choice, but for most of them we do have

 

கண்கள்

நினைக்காத பொழுதில்,
சற்றும் எதிர்பார்கதா காலை வேலையில்,
ரசாயண காற்றின் சுவாசத்தில்,
நண்பனுக்காய் காத்திருந்த வேலையில்,
மாநகர பேருந்தில் சந்தித்த உன் கண்காள்,
ஒரு அழகான அதிர்ச்சி!!

நினைவலையில் ஓயாத சந்திப்பு,
என்றோ உன்னிடம் தொலைந்த நான்,
இன்றும் மறுபடி தொலைந்தைன் உன்னில்,
தொலைவதும் சுகம் என்று புரியவைத்த நுதன திருட்டு!!

 

The small hero who impressed me…

Last weekend….

It was around half past ten in the morning, when I was back from my french classes. I was on the bike with usual, unusual thoughts in my head and a slight head ache. The thoughts in my head was because of my work and skill up gradation plans. The head ache was due to the newly painted class room where I go for learning french. It was mixed kind of feeling, but it is very usual to me.

I was blocked by the red light near the lakshman shruthi signal, I was cursing the traffic lights for increasing the magnitude of my hunger by just increasing the time for my reaching home, that too just very few kilometers from my home. It was at this point, I saw the young guy who impressed me a lot….

He was a small guy, should be little less than 10 years of age. But, the job he was doing was a job of a talented person. I would never push myself into that job because it involved, lot of talking, convincing, canvassing and selling your product. Yes!! you guessed it right, he was selling…he was a young sales person. He was not selling computers or mobiles or laptops or not a highly worthy thing, he was selling ear buds – a thin plastic straw which has cotton rolled on both the ends, which we use for cleaning our ears.

He should have been one of the usual boy who was born in a poor family, who had heart and will to learn…but no bread to fill his stomach. He should have been forced to sell ear buds to earn his living. It was tough job, I agree…The probability of people buying ear buds was so less, out of the little more than thousand vehicles(inclusive of four wheelers and two wheelers) in the signal, not even one of them braught the ear buds, though it costed just 10 bucks.Ten bucks, is not a huge amount, when compared to what we spend on unneccasary expenses.

Despite of all this short comings, I liked the attitude of this small guy. He would go near each and every vehicle…And give a broad million dollar smile  to his customers and ask,

“Buds vangikongaa anna/akka, verum pathu ruba dhaan….”

Some of them would be polite with him and say a gentle NO…and some of them would be harsh on him and shove him off…

But however his customers reacted, he still maintained his winning attitude and his mesmerizing million dollar smile…I was astonished to see this…What an hero he was?? Heroes, are not the persons who bear all the pain, kill/hit hundred people and save the heroines in movies…nor they are persons who have extra-ordinary powers nor they are persons who are like our fake politicians…The real hero, in fact the first hero I met in real life was this small kid….

He had no money, no education, not sure if he would have his next meal…probably even no shelter and nothing to fulfill his basic needs…but still he had the good will, winning attitude, ever lasting hope, patience, understanding and the hunger to achieve…and lot more good things

Without hesitation, I brought a packet of ear buds from my small hero and wished him good luck with a broad smile back…I saw his eyes glittering and bubbling with energy…I thought every week I should buy buds from him, if or not I use it

But, the majority of the population in India have all our basic necessities fulfilled, but we never have the attitude that this guy has…But still, we are sad, we are not contended…we run behind material wealth…At last we forget we are humans… why?? Can’t we change for good?? If we cannot be heroes, can we at least be good humans??

I thought I will meet my hero this week also…but, he was missing in his office place, open air office rather…I thought may be he changed his office location or rather shifted from his current job…however, I admire him a lot…hope I will get a chance to meet him again…

 

Smileys…or Lifeys…

Common term everyone would have heard, or yahoo terminology would be emoticons…

These small icons or graphic images map our real emotions to a computer based emotions…Some emoticons are real cute, they express more than what humans do in reality.

One question I had always had when using them is, Are we heading towards a virtual world where we often have imaginary character of our-self.Like, Mr.Anderson and Neo in the “The Matrix”…The emerging social networking sites are incorporating features to even map our physical and mental self into an virtual image. Though it has some good, it has weighted bad too, psychologically we are tend to be under a self pressure…What all we are unable to do in reality will be capable in virtual world…so the human mind just tends to stay in the virtual world where there no failures, no sadness, no defeats and no negativity. This eventually leads to addiction which eventually eats our own mental self.Then we would turn mere living cells feeding our expressivity, our thoughts and our emotions to our virtual image and end up no where…

Well, that was not the real thing I wanted to convey, that’s one thing that’s greatly occurring these days.

Now back to the subject of discussion…

In our real life, we forget that we are humans born to live a happy life and enjoy life. We often just get behind some or the other thing, would have started with studies…then work…then skill set development…then onsite…then again a study or family…and it goes on and on…If we ever give a thought to us, “Man!! stop !! if you go on running behind something when would you live your life??”…The instant answer we would give is, “After achieving…so and so..so and so…” and the list keeps growing…By the time we reach the end of it, we would have already finished meaningful part of our life

So the answer eventually is – Live your life while you grow and while you are in your achievement or growth phase…Don’t forget the key purpose of life and don’t just concentrate in the surrounding factors…

I felt this occurring commonly in me, one common comment I receive from my colleagues is, I always have a tensed face or probably an serious face…I don’t really know how it got a fit inside me…A little observation to my facial reactions proved they were right. I analyzed and did find out that, I forget to smile or keep a smiling face…this is naturally because every-time my mind/brain seems to be preoccupied with something..even if its a lightweight brain thread or a heavyweight brain process it just keeps consuming answers to what next? what next? what next? what next? and goes working on it…

I think its time, I shut it down and do something else to get it back to normal…stop taking things seriously…make work as just work…concentrate a bit of self development…concentrate a bit on enjoying the beauty of life and nature…Overhauling time for my brain machine

Some-other things which I am going to try are,
- When I walk, when I eat, when I breath, when I sleep or whatever I do…I am going to auto suggest myself to stop thinking too much and just concentrate on whatever I am doing in the present.
- No parallel processing and no concurrent processing. Going to be in single threaded model for some time.
- Take good time to sleep, to eat healthy food(of-course fat free) and read as much as “out of subject” books.
- Try and smile whenever possible…whether its necessary or unnecessary.
- Stop frowning
- Finally, LIVE MY LIFE
So guys and girls…its your turn now…Do whatever get out of it !!! Its not really good out there

If you have tackled these kind of situation better, please do let us know.