wonderful thoughts....Life's Little Instruction Book

Have a firm handshake.

Look people into thier eyes.

Sing in the shower.

Own a great stereo system.

If in a fight, hit first and hit hard.

Keep secrets.

Never give up on anybody. Miracles happen everyday.

Always accept an outstretched hand.

Be brave. Even if you're not, pretend to be. No one can tell the
difference.

Whistle.

Avoid sarcastic remarks.

Choose your life's mate carefully. >From this one decision will come 90 per
cent of all your happiness or misery.

Make it a habit to do nice things for people who will never find out.

Lend only those books you never care to see again.

Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all that they have.

When playing games with ! children, let them win.

Give people a second chance, but not a third.

Be romantic.

Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

Loosen up. Relax. Except for rare life-and-death matters, nothing is as
important as it first seems.

Don't allow the phone to interrupt important moments. It's there for your
convenience, not the caller's.

Be a good loser.

Be a good winner.

Think twice before burdening a friend with a secret.

When someone hugs you, let them be the first to let go.

Be modest. A lot was accomplished before you were born.

Keep it simple.

Beware of the person who has nothing to lose.

Don't burn bridges. You'll be surprised how many times you have to cross
the same river.

Live your life so that your epitaph could read, No Regrets

Be bold and courageous. When you look back on life, you'll regret the
things you didn't do more than the one's you did.

Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.

Remember no one makes it alone. Have a grateful heart and be quick to
acknowledge those who helped you.

Take charge of your attitude. Don't let someone else choose it for you.

Visit friends and relatives when they are in hospital; you need only stay a
few minutes.

Begin each day with some of your favorite music.

Once in a while, take the scenic route.

Send a lot of Valentine cards. Sign them, 'Someone who thinks you're
terrific.'

Answer the phone with enthusiasm and energy in your voice.

Keep a note pad and pencil on your bed-side table. Million-dollar ideas
sometimes strike at 3 a.m.

Show respect for everyone who works for a living, regardless of how trivial
their job.

Send your loved ones flowers. Think of a reason later.

Make someone's day by paying the toll for the person in the car behind you.


Become someone's hero.

Marry only for love.

Count your blessings.

Compliment the meal when you're a guest in someone's home.

Wave at the children on a school bus.

Remember that 80 per cent of the success in any job is based on your
ability to deal with people.

Don't expect life to be fair.

Few yarns of our Hampi tale

Pooping pigeon. The onset of our Hampi trip a pigeon pooping accurately on the only printout we had about Hampi. The page we were looking at: where to stay at Hampi. We planned to be backpackers..and were deciding on where to stay at that very last moment. And the poop did not matter, we tore the paper around the poop and moved on.

The TVS Excel. We rented a moped to behold the scattered ruins in and around Hampi. At Rs.150 per day and couple of liters of petrol we covered the entire Hampi town. To start with my travel mate had to make sure he could ride the bike. The bike was at its best and neither did the hot pre-winter sun nor did our novice-ness in navigating impact our ride.

Venkatesh. Our little guide during our second day sojourn in Hampi. He was physically tiny for a 15 year old boy. We bumped into Venkatesh, this post-card selling boy early in the day. We had just started a small trek to see a few scattered ruins around the river. This boy explained the relevance of Ramayana and its significance among the ruins in his own words. The naively adulterated words he used jolted us. The terms we don’t use like lovers, villain, ran away, especially when we talk about our religiously guarded epics. He has customized his words to suit his profession and his customers – the people from foreign countries who visit places like Hampi to get a slice of the India that has been portrayed to the ‘big-brother’ nations. His was a sad story… orphaned at an early age he lives now to live. Cheers Venkatesh!

Colonized. India once was. But, pockets like Hampi are still very colonized, not by force of a powerful nation, but by choice offered by the numerable faiths and religions from various nations. The locals cater so much to the non-Indian travelers that they seem to have imbibed the language, food, culture – to an extent. The locals are at ease greeting people and exchanging pleasantries.

Lonely Planet. This book has a mention in almost every other name-board of a restaurant or home stay/lodge.

Others. Our routine idli-chutney breakfast, that pretty much woke me up every morning. The ‘goli’ soda that is not a very common sight anymore was around in Hampi.
The beauty of the twilight and the dimming light by the river side near the Virupaksha temple. The small winding inroads with many hidden pathways, the sheltered and relaxing Mango Tree restaurant, the customized coffees and teas that is made on order, the long stretches of roads without traffic lights, the few road humps, the empty roads sans traffic and the tranquility in the nonexistence of corporates, the sprawling expanse of cultivated land and the rickety mopeds and empty buses… Hampi is still not so far from the madding crowd.

Lesser Mortals..

The uncanny knack of our government to reduce accidents. The government is filling pot holes and breaking road humps to help the traveler. And how is all this helping: Here its is… look at it from this point of view.
• Pot-holes are filled. Unevenly: A couple of inches above the road level or a couple of inches below the road level.
• The road humps are broken. Unevenly: A crude digging job that leaves the area uneven and the residue scattered on the road.
So, the speed is under check and no worries about employing more cops to check speeding. The noble intention behind this intentional activity is reducing death rate due to accidents. (hmmm this is probably a topic that infrastructure development students can choose for a thesis. The data am sure is readily available at hospitals or police stations). The thought goes like…reducing speeding reduces accident and thus cuts down on mortality. The fringe benefit also includes optimization of personnel employed to police around.

My gratitude to happiness..

The melancholic days, the urge to talk, the want to listen, the callous moments, the brimming anger, the unlimited anxiety ridden hours, the tension topped exam days, the stress of the unseen, the constant worry of worrying, the hassle of the bloodline, the lonely tear-filled nights, the loneliness in an overcrowded world, the pretense of happiness, the criticism of self, the irony of success, the insincere friends, the loathsome selfish humans, the ego filled individuals, the untruthful, the devastating cheats of nature, the hunger to want to know… the incline to life goes on.

The cosseted avenue of my life is harbored by happiness. Thank you. The beautiful mornings, the wonderful camera, the ever-willing paint brush, the happy people, the unreal friends, the ‘friends’, the pjs, the ability to laugh, the mind to think of the unimaginable, the smell of a fresh bake, the moments of love, the pine to travel far and beyond, the unforeseen success, the ability to run walk and talk, the urge to spend, the unlimited joy of being, the support of life, the willing suspension of disbelief, the face-hurting tear-jerking stomach-churning laughs, the coffee, the light to capture the moment for eternity, the nights of blissful dreams…and the continuous dream filled days. The days in life are a mock tail of the zeal to live. The ardor of life is an understanding of the happiness by dealing with obscurity.

Should Oct 2 be a National Holiday?

What did I do on Oct 2? I watched some TV, ate, drank, slept…it was just another day. But then, a long weekend. What is the purpose of this National Holiday? To spend more time on doing all the regular things we do on holidays?

Can we make this a working day instead. Make another religious celebration a national holiday. Calling our country, India, a melting pot of religions or calling it a sub-continent alone will not suffice. Effort has to be made to make this mark in ink indelible. We have to make an effort to create avenues to make this country true to its name: a melting pot of religion.

So what did you do on Oct 2?

Eyes Wide Open...

This phenomenon happens to me a couple of times in a year, I guess. This is the time when my mind gets enough light and thought and I begins to think. Trala la…The last couple of days have been those phenomenal days ;)

I have thought, professed to myself, smiled a lot (which I do for no reason), tried to come to terms with reality, blogged a bit, and opened my eyes wide. The world looks a lot more pleasant, people don’t bother me – they remain painful and boring…but doesn’t bother me much, songs make me happier, I did not yell at the scoundrels on the street, nor did I sulk… oh… this seems like a year. But then, one thing… had no one to spew my PJs at…

Anyways… continuing on the life’s winding roads…glad to be at the pleasant curve.

And then comes Keats…

OH! how I love, on a fair summer's eve,
When streams of light pour down the golden west,
And on the balmy zephyrs tranquil rest
The silver clouds, far - far away to leave
All meaner thoughts, and take a sweet reprieve
Fromm little cares; to find, with easy quest,
A fragrant wild, with Nature's beauty drest,
And there into the delight my soul deceive.
There warm my breast with patriotic lore,
Musing on Milton's fate - on Sydney's bier -
Till their stern forms before my mind arise:
Perhaps on wing of Poesy upsoar,
Full often dropping a delicious tear,
When some melodious sorrow spells mine eyes.

..A Foolish Romantic??

I am overloaded with work. But its been a couple of days that I am unable to resist my blogging urges. Never happened before. I just want to talk…

Something I have been mulling for a while. A while being many many years…from the time I felt those butterflies in my stomach… should I say heart (just to distinguish hunger from love).

My concept of love… not to market a theory but just to get clarity in my head. I am a romantic in my head. Completely. I get all cheered up with flowering rows of trees, the sunshine filled lake, the touch of drizzle, the idea of romance, the thought of walking down a rusty leaves filled walkway, the idea of talking about the obscurest of things, the idea of a walk in the clouds, day dreaming, possibility of travelling and everything about life. I smile for no reason and I have no clear idea of what love is.

Have ended without words at the end of conversations on love. Have been called a ‘foolish romantic’ for having a thin line between good friendship and love. (on a tangent, I love the foolish romantic usage. I truly don’t mind being foolish in romance). I think love is about the comfort and compatibility that you share with a good friend, which has to then be converted by effort to make it more than that. By effort I mean, the effortless attempt to zoom that extra mile. Saying the love we have, the yearning to be with the other, the thought of togetherness, words of endless love … all these come in with an effort made over a period of time. I do not want a bunch of roses or a basket of cocoa or candle light dinners. I might be the least a guy would look for in the terms of a girlie girl. I don’t dress myself for fashion…but do it for comfort and I don’t have the flirty sentences and laugh. I am a snob and like very few people and have very few friends. But I am happy there are people who are friends with me and agree to disagree with my rants. I have found love. Love in all that life has to offer. I have decided not to fret about losing something…but to be happy that I had something. Loss has added to my perspective of life. I don’t have time to let go of opportunity for I am living. Time is short and I don’t know where my end is. So what if I don’t drink beer and smoke.. I enjoy life and am high on life and will always be!! Thanks to those many many that I yearned to be with. I have learnt what love could be too.