You can't find inner peace!!!

The miseries of the past haunt me. The future is uncertain. The present is full of troubles. It haunts me too. I lose sleep, fret over my condition. But nothing really changes. There is no peace in life.

Déjà vu.

It's not just me who feels this often. A lot of folks feel the same way. Whether its the kids studies or health or something else, people live with problems. Peace of mind is definitely lacking, unless one knows where to find it. The answer lies only in one place, in one's own head. The head is a labyrinth of thoughts. Good, bad and the ugly. All sort of thoughts can coexist in the same space. We feel despair, but we convince ourselves that things will be alright, thus giving ourselves hope. We can feel angry, yet within moments we feel happy. There are numerous instances like this when one feeling turns to another in few seconds.

The mind shows amazing adaptability to shift across varying feelings in seconds. Considering that one's mood changes for no apparent reason, I can safely declare that it's possible to find peace in times of turbulence too.

Let's take a situation where one feels disturbed over the past happenings. It could be a feeling of regret, hoping that things could have gone different, comparison with others or even wishing if one had more luck. These are just instances, but the reason for the disturbances could be anything. The cause of the disturbance may be an absolutely valid reason to feel bad or a totally stupid one. It may appear that life hasn't been fair or we are unlucky. The quickest way to achieve peace state of mind is by asking oneself a few questions.

'Can I do something about it at this instant?' , if the answer is yes, then you have a solution to the problem. You can go ahead and fix it. But, in most cases, the answer is a big NO. All that has to be done is to acknowledge the feeling. Is very important that we don't try to reason it out or wonder why the past happened. The acknowledgement must be in its simplest sense. Just be aware that we are remembering stuff from the past and go about doing your work.

The Future - when disturbed about the future, it's just a case of asking the same question. ' can I do something about it? '. The answer may be a NO. It may appear that a tough road lies ahead. It can definitely weigh you down. Now, one needs to ask the second question... 'So what? ' .. The answer to this simple question is that you just have to deal with it whether you like it or not. Again, it's just a case of acknowledging the feeling. It's just a case being aware of what the known future holds and choosing to do something more important at this instant.

There are no guarantees that we forget the past or stop thinking about the future. The easiest way is to accept to oneself that the thoughts exist in the head and decide whether to act on it or leave it. Once you decide to leave the thought aside, the mind automatically starts to work on something else and you feel peaceful.

The longer you can continue to acknowledge that thought exists and keep these thoughts aside, the peace of mind will be longer. The more number of distracting thoughts you can put aside, the more peaceful you'd feel.

But be warned that peace of mind is not absolute and can't be obtained through any means. It's just a state of mind. A simple case of shedding away unwanted thoughts for a given period of time.

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Where the laws of reason dont apply !!!!

At the end of a really long day,  I was surfing the channels on my TV, watched a few scenes from 'A Beautiful Mind'.  The experience was one that can only be felt.  My next hop was to watching 'Rock On!!!' in 5.1, the mood suddenly changed. The great music and the gentle stroryline was a touch of fresh breath at the end of a long tiring day. Right through the movie, my mood was  following the pulse of the movie. Just then it crossed my mind that what I was going through the couple of hours is actually what been going on in my head all these years. 

There are days when life tries to upset you as much as possible, but we are unmoved. We take everything in our stride and remain happy. There are days when even a mosquito bite ticks triggers anger, a joke turns out to a quarrel and nothing seem to cheer you up. Just when all appears lost, an unexpected call or a supporting hand tends to erase the bad mood. We end up doing bungee jumps, parasailing and even crazier stuff. But when it comes to talking to a girl or propose, all the macho courage goes to dust. :) We love chocolates one day, but feel averse to it another. The chocolate haven't changed, nor have we. Its just the state of the mind.  The past memories haunt our actions. Some days we get up with a lot of hope, on others we just get up feeling terrible. Nothing around's actually changed. But its just that we feel different each day and each moment.

Well, you can decode a cipher or even understand the Higgs Boson. But no laws of nature apply to the mind. The mind is unique. Its a labyrinth, a puzzle and an non reasonable mess. Its not possible to reason out every feeling that creeps up in the head. Scholars, scientists and great intellectuals have tried over the years, but none of them have been able to come up with an equation that solves the mystery of the mind. There are only theories on what could be. 

Then comes the next question, how does one deal with the countless thoughts that run amok within the head? I found my  answer  in this insightful conversation from the movie - "A Beautiful Mind"

"Well, you know. "
"Are they gone? "
"No, they're not gone. "
"And maybe they never will be. "
"But I've gotten used to ignoring them...and I think as a result they've kind of given up on me. "
"You think that's what it's like...with all our dreams and our nightmares, Martin? "
"You've got to keep feeding them for them to stay alive?"
"John, they- haunt you, though."
"They're my past, Martin. Everybody's haunted by their past."

Hanuman's Curse

My childhood was replete with hundreds of stories from Hindu Mythology that  I read in the Amar Chitra Kata Comics, Bhagavatham, and the ones which the elders had narrated. Though I dont remember the exact versions of the stories that I'd heard over the years, a lot of these narrations are still very much remanent in the head.

When I was doing some soul searching today, I suddenly remembered the fascinating story of Hanuman. The story goes something like this.

Hanuman has always been considered as the strongest, most intelligent and one of the wisest demi-gods in Hindu Mythology. But sometime during his playful childhood days, Hanuman caused a lot of havoc among the sages who lived in the forests due to his mischief. 

One fine day, the sages grew tired of Hanuman and pronounced a curse - ”O Hanuman! you will forget all those powers and boons that have been bestowed upon you.  You will regain your vigour and vitality only when some one eulogises your greatness and glory.” 

The anathema made Hanuman staid and tranquil. Hence, Hanuman would never know how powerful and strong he was. Others would have to explain to him his strength.  Only then would he be realizing it.

Rama, Hanuman, Angad, Jambhavan(The Bear) and the Vanara Sena (Monkey Army) find out from Sampati (The Vulture) that Sita could be taken to Lanka. Looking at the roaring sea ahead of them, all of them turn pessimistic on how to cross over to Lanka to find out about Sita's wherabouts. Hanuman is among the most pessimistic of them all. 

Just when all seem lost, Jambhavan comes up to Hanuman and praises him - ”No other living creature has your strength, wisdom and radiance. -Why are you sitting quiet, not knowing yourself.? You can certainly jump over the ocean.” 

That's the moment, the Curse was lifted. Hanuman being reminded of his own powers, is overwhelmed with enthusiasm. As Jambhavan and the rest of the folks around him start reminding him about his powress, he starts growing in size. Finally, he takes a gigantic form and leaps across the ocean in search of Sita.

This story from the Ramayan is one of those anectodes that's usually told to kids as inspiration. While it may be inspirational to most, its metaphorical in many ways.

Each one of us have nearly unlimited potential, the events of the past, shape the minds in such a way that like Hanuman's curse, we forget what we actually are capable of. When all seem lost, during a moment of reckoning, all that's needed are some wise words of inspiration from a friend or a close aide to remind each one of us of the glorious past and how much we are capable of. 

These words could be a rebuke or kind words of wisdom. The goal is ultimately to remind you of who you actually are and what you are capable of!!!!

The Enigma of West Indies Cricket

Cricket fans usually have strong loyalties to their national teams. But there has always been one team which is loved by most cricket loving fans the world over.  Infact, its not even a team representing a country. Its a team that represents the whole of Caribbean islands, The West Indies Cricket team. 

The once mighty Windies team which boasted some of the greatest batsmen from Sobers to Richards to Lara  to Gayle and champion bowlers like Michael Holding to Malcolm Marshall to Courtney Walsh have been in shambles lately. The state of west indies cricket over the past few years have been an enigma to say the least.  They have been  ranked one step from the last in ODI and test rankings for almost 5 years I guess!!!

Being a fan of West Indies Cricket, it has been a harrowing experience. Its been sad to not to see any great talent emerge on the stage post Brian Lara and Walsh/Ambrose. There is Chris Gayle, but according to me, he lacks the stature of his predecessors. His tussle with the board doesn't help the team either. The lack of emerging talent have been compounded by the problems between the cricket board and the players to such an extent that Darren Sammy, who was not even a regular in the playing eleven was made the captain.

Looking back at the mess over the past few years, I'm not able to comprehend the reasons for the downfall of the West Indies. I can only say that the West Indies had hit rock bottom. I can't even remember a single Test or ODI series that they've won against a higher ranked team.

The only silver lining has been the performance of the West Indies in the test series against England in May-June 2012. England won the series hands down. However,  the inexperienced   batting lineup have accomplished what Top ranked Indian team and 'The Famed Indian Batting' could not achieve in 4 tests at England in 2011. They put up 300+ scores in all the test matches. 

The team under Darren Sammy and the new coaching staff are showing promise. They may not have won, but the team's showing a lot of heart. I'm sure return of Chris Gayle will bolster the team morale. The fact of the matter is I don't see the West Indies winning any time soon. But their performance of late gives hope.

Its been a slow and painful recovery for West Indies cricket, but the fact of the matter is that when you hit rock bottom, there is no easy way up. It may still be few years till one sees them winning consistently. Being the  loyal fan of West Indies that I've been for so many years, I just don't want  to give up  yet.

Memento

The past several weeks have been filled with activity. Looking back, what's the most substantial thing I have done the past couple of months??NOTHING!!!

Its not always that one needs to do something useful. Let me travel back in time into the realms of my head  and see what I had been upto.

The weekend has been a bit sober. Finally I won over the the stomach bug that had got the better of me for the past week. The promise of writing a blog post  has suddenly become a reality.

The past week was routine programming stuff and I got to test drive a whole lot of cars. Nothing special about the whole episode because I found most of the drives less than satisfactory. Nevertheless, the most important fact that I loved the whole drill  :)

Two weeks ago...Within a couple of days landing back in Bangalore, I was enjoying my birthday. Surprise cake, a good weekend, an office party. Then I lay my hands on the game 'Uncharted 3'. A birthday gift!!!! And there I was playing Nathan Drake, climbing walls, killing baddies and searching for the Lost City of Atlantis. The city was found only to be home to some real evil stuff. Finally, the adventure was over and I had conquered 'Uncharted 3'. I loved it?? Hell yeah!!!

Three Weeks ago, Barely hours after I got a big raise at work, I was boarding a train. 12 hours of being at the mercy of the Indian Railways, I was finally in Goa. A holiday that was long due came to materialize. Lots of beautiful beaches, rented car,  long drives, midnight ice-cream and beautiful Goan food. The whole stay was absolutely beautiful. The best part of the stay was I didnt know the time or the day of the week. It was holidaying at its best :)

Four weeks ago...The IPL was well on . Ganguly's team had begun to falter. It all started at the Chinnaswamy stadium I believe, when all of us were in the middle of the Gayle storm that derailed Pune Warrior's campaign. The highlight was the 5 sixers in the over by Chris Gayle. It wasn't a planned trip to the stadium. I just got lucky coz my friend turned up with a couple of extra tickets for the match.

When it all began....The month of march was grueling. My patience with life was put to the test. That's when I did something that's so unexpected of me. Decided to venture all by myself into the Gaming store and picked up 5 of my favourite game titles. Finally decided that I'll not do what's expected of me, but do what I love the most. Play the game  :) and enjoy my cricket on TV :)

StackOverflowError!!!! I'm back in the present. What did I do the past few weeks??? I did what I loved the most. Those are  the times when one's at the happiest :) Its not always that you get time to do what you love. But when you indulge once a while, it keeps u running for the rest of the year :)

Graveyard Road

It was the routine drive back home. I took the my favourite road. The same route I frequented the last 5 years. It's a route that's filled with trees, through the HAL township. One can always feel the freshness of the flowers, old leaves on the road, quiet houses and arching trees alongside the road through with the sunlight rarely makes its way. There is also a large wall on one side of the road. I always assumed that there was some large factory or some defence establishment. Driving back through these streets have always been the most relaxing.

Something was different the last time I traveled down the road a few days ago. The large wall had given away. I was curious to see what lay beyond. It was just a sneak peek when I drove by What lie beyond was the last thing I'd imagine.

Through the broken wall I could see a large cemetery. The were large trees and tombs. The sight was almost right out of Omen. There were no bloodhounds nor the walking dead. It was just a quiet cemetery. But what I saw sent a chill down the spine.

It was the same route I had taken hundreds of times and even during the wee hours of the night. But there was the wall. And what lay beyond didn't bother me. Now that I've seen what lies beyond, each time I pass along the road the I feel creepy.

I always wished to see beyond the wall. I did. It was not what I had imagined. There were two choices I could make. Use the road or don't even go nearby.

I still take the road. The cemetery scares the hell out of me. But I know I'll make it safely coz the fear is only in my head.

Fraction of a Second

The day started like any other. Few minutes scanning the newspapers, the routine cup of coffee and work. But something was different on the way to work. I was feeling brisk, almost like the brain was tired of being tired of life. The day appeared brighter than usual. The traffic was moving quicker than usual. Then came the fraction of second that made a difference.

A large truck was hogging the road. On any other day I'd be happy to tail the slow truck all the way. But today was different. The brain worked faster than usual. It was only a fraction of second quicker though. The distance was worked out, the calculation was perfect. A little extra acceleration and I zoomed ahead of the slow beast. It was almost like the instincts took over. Some may perceive it as rash driving, according to me the mind was operating a fraction of a second faster than usual. Once I pulled away from the truck there was no looking back.

I reached office on time. I was able to predict the output of the code. Knew what people would say next. The vision for whole day almost presented itself beforehand. Time flew. Work day came to an end. I had written more code than usual, was still remarkably fresh Once I was back home, hit the gym and as I'm writing this post I'm almost on unlimited energy.

Once in a while, the brain acts slightly faster than usual. The moments when it happens is when u get the spark. Once you identify such moments life becomes easy and you are almost in overdrive and experience unlimited energy. I don't know what was special about today. But such sparks trigger only once a while. Rest of the time, the mind acts plain lazy.

Well, if the mind was acting a fraction quicker all the time, I'd be great already :)

Ghost From His Past

The clock was inching towards the darkest hours of the night. The chilly wind, the cloudy sky and the dark street made the road feel like a morgue.The leaves of old trees by the road side were singing a haunting melody in the wind. Crawley had just crossed the old cemetary on his way back.  He had heard stories about the cemetary which was infamous for the burials done due to unnatural deaths. His home was just a few blocks away. He never bothered about the stories and the burials. But today, when Crawley felt the cold breeze on his face, it appeared to him that the voices from the grave wanted to tell him a story. His hands were numb, his legs started cramping up and his lungs needed more oxygen. He accelerated across the street as much as his hands could use the throttle. 

Crawley had made it home. His home was the last house in the street. A house that was surrounded by  trees which were older than himself. He hurriedly parked his bike, frantically searched his pockets for the key to the door. He then pulled out the keychain and hurried to the door. Alas!!! There was darkness all around. Power blackout meant that Crawley had to grope in the dark. Using his cellphone display for light, he opened the door. He entered the house and immediately locked the door behind him. The latching of the door echoed throughout the house. 

Crawley instantly felt secure.  Back in familiar territory, he lit up a candle. His dark shadow was beside him. The shadow was almost like a reflection of his heart -  Dark, emotionless and cold. Holding the candle in one hand, he went across the room to drink some water. While he searched for his favourite glass, he noticed the photo on the wall. It was the the last photo before they separated. His face  was barely visible on the photo that was masked in his own shadow. He could see her though. Her eyes had a haunting mystery and happiness. They were not together anymore. Yet he had her picture on his wall. He quietly stared at the photo, a small tear ran down his cheek. He the sipped the water. 

Left with nothing else to do, Crawley lied down. Next to his bed was the balcony door. The door which was stuck. The shadow of the trees painted themselves on the wall through the curtains. There was a guitar on his left. It was his most cherished gift from her. He ensured that it was always beside him. He slowly closed his eyes.

It appeared that the day had finally come to an end.  The wind was whistling a familiar tune through the broken glass of his window. Crawley's eyes were half closed.  Suddenly, he could feel soft hands running through his hair. The touch felt familiar. While he was enjoying the warm hands touching his forehead, he realized that he was alone. When he turned his head, he was schocked. There was no light.Yet he could see the girl. He knew her. He knew the pink gown, he gifted her on a birthday. Her hair was dancing to the tune of the wind. Her love for him was seen through her eyes. She was smiling as she carassed his hair. It was not meant to be...

Crawley could hear his heart pounding away. He could feel his breath turn cold. He jumped out of bed, his feet would not aid him. He crawled his way towards the door frantically searching for the cellphone's flashlight. He rushed out to the balcony. He turned around to his bed. He was relieved, She was not there. He rubbed off the cold sweat on his forehead and made his way to his closet. Now, even his dark shadows scared the hell out of him. He located the cell phone, switched on the inbuilt flash light. He then took out the pills from the medicine cabinet. He needed water. 

As he made his way to the kitchen, he tripped. A loud thud, he was on the floor starting at the ceiling. His favourite photo from the wall was beside him. His mind was filled with fear, sweat was dripping across his face. His palms were wet.  He gathered himself. He had barely made a step, he could see her again. 

He could see her walking towards him with a glass of water. Her eyes conveyed a sense of concern. The expression on the face assured him that he was alright. But he also knew it couldn't be true.There was a flash of light, 

The power was back on. He jumped back into bed, he didnt see her any more.  He could almost feel normal again. He then turned around to see his favourite guitar before he slipped back into sleep. He felt happy looking at it. He could see the best moments of his life in it. His memories  were  there in it too. 

The next morning, there he lay. His eyes were still open. He had his cellphone in one hand and the anti-depressant pills clutched in the other. The Cellphone kept ringing. Her picture kept flashing on the caller ID. 

 

The Chief Justice within us

Many believe that God created man in His image. There is also popular belief that God judges each soul based on his actions or karma. There is also another popular belief that god is within us.

Forming a mash up of all these beliefs, a lot of us have come up with the new concept of being the judge ourselves and judge every person on the face of this earth.

The most recent case of this obsession to judge is Sachin's hundredth 100. Expert advices from non cricketing professionals about Sachin's game, his dedication, selfishness etc.

The most ridiculous ones... 'he's playing for his record' , 'Sachin thinking about his 100 is affecting his game'

This is where my problem lies. Would any one accept a similar criticism if a friend or a stranger comes up and says 'you dont enjoy your job, you must retire'. Won't we tell him to shove that thought up his *** and mind his business?

Sachin's case is just an example of how most of us approach lives. We try to judge everyone around us. We form opinions, polarised views with almost no sufficient data about the other person. It's a no brainer that judging others is not going to make your life any better. Yet we do it.

I believe life would be much simpler if we don't judge others and just see one another as individuals going about their lives.

Dichotomy

Early 2010, I was changing jobs. It was just after recession. The economy was picking up, many companies had started hiring again. Recession was by no means over, but the situation was far better. After a couple of years without a hike(and paycuts), the idea of changing jobs looked to be the best option.

I had prepared myself fairly well for the interviews. Confidence level was high. As soon as I had started circulating my resume, the interview calls started pouring in. I got 2 job offers. One from Nokia(The phone company) and the other from a small startup. Nokia made a better offer which was significently higher than the startup. 

Most of the people with whom I discussed the offer suggested me to take up the Nokia offer. After all, it was the one of the most respected and renowned brands on earth. The decision to reject the startup offer seemed the right decision.

The phone market was however going through a tipping point. Android was gaining market share rapidly. Apple had already carved out its market space with the stellar iPhone. However, Nokia was still the market leader in smartphones with  over 30% market share.  Joining Nokia seemed a no brainer.

But there was one crucial variable to the whole scenario. If other phone manufacturers were catching up so rapidly on Nokia, there must be something which I was missing. I was also hired to worked on a slightly older version of the OS. I was not convinced it was the right decision. 

To the disappointment of many, I went ahead and took up the offer from the startup. People were fairly certain I made a bad decision.

Its been two years since the time I made the decision. Looking back, It appears I have made the right decision. Apple and Google have bulldozed their way into the smartphone market. The CEO of Nokia sends the 'Burning Platform Memo'. Symbian is shutdown. Had I been part of the turmoil, I'm not sure I would have retained my job. 

On the other hand, things could have been different too. Had Nokia turned their business around, I would have looked like an idiot to have let go of a golded opportunity. Luckily, my foresight proved correct. 

This was just one example. A seemingly bad decision at one point of time, may turn out to be the best decision of our lives and vice-versa. Most decisions taken are based on one's  assessment of the situation. Ultimately, one has to take a decision. Only in hindsight one can  tell  whether the decision made was good or bad. It may take months or years to understand whether one made the right decision. 

However, its of utmost importance  to back oneself after making a decision.

Bangalore Traffic

As much as I like Bangalore, I hate the traffic management and the traffic. Today was one such day, I had to put up with messy traffic on the way. This is the story of many folks who follow road rules and end up furious when they reach back home.

It was 5PM, the time when I usually head back home. It's also the time when the traffic cops lose their plot, thousands of retarded lunatics start driving on the road. Their only goal, reach home at any cost with total disregard for traffic rules. The cab drivers try compete with one another, usually in the game of 'who drives worse when using the phone'. The next is the great buses which hog 2 lanes of the 3 lane road. The grand party is supervised by the trainee cops who are mostly engaged in cell phone talks. So much for training. And the icing on the cake is the underpass construction. The great mess plays out day in and day out at the outer ring road.

It was in this grand scheme of things I set out to head back home. The very first signal, waiting for the traffic to clear up. Bang!!! A retard software engineer stops his bike after colliding with the back of my bike. The reason, he's speaking to another biker to this right. And used my bike as brakes.... I was furious. Luckily he was little far away, otherwise I would have displaced his jaw. Finally the idiot realised he goofed up and disappeared from the scene. The signal turned green. I moved on.

Barely few metres away from the signal, bus stop!!! The bus never stops there but right in the middle of 3 lane road. Horde of people rush in and out of the bus. There's absolute disregard for the rest of the traffic. Finally, manage to work my way around the bus.

Moving on, more traffic, more morons along the way. Worked my way through the traffic. Just a little more distance to reach home, and there jumps a cow on to the road. Screech!!! Thought only humans didn't have disregard for traffic....

After all this nonsense, finally made it home.

Realised that everyone is only concerned about reaching their destination. There's total disregard for the people around. If I have to make it back, it's solely my responsibility. I'll have to make up for others' mistakes on road, adjust accordingly. There's no point picking up a quarrel along the way. The most important objective is to reach my destination.

Long Drive

I was sick and tired of the traffic. Endless traffic jams and slow moving traffic was the order of the day. So I decided that I will take the long route back home.

The road was wider, traffic was less dense. However, it took much longer than usual to reach home. It was a more peaceful drive, the extra time spent driving was worth it.

Should I take the longer route back daily? Should the longer route be my primary way to reach work? Is reaching work my most important goal? Does it make sense to travel the extra mile daily? Or Fighting my way through the traffic is the best way going ahead?

It's definitely not a case of the road less taken, may be its a case of not wanting to fight my way through the traffic. I don't know :)

BIG Questions

Initially thought of adding comments to these great questions from Refueling the Brain. But realized that the below questions deserved a post on their own. It can reach a wider audience this way.

1.  Is the origin of the pressure the school or the society?


I feel its just an illusion created by school, society and parents. All of them are partners in crime.

2. What makes us think that marks are the indicators of success?
Perception: Good Marks -> Good College -> Good Job -> Lots of Money => SUCCESS :)

3. Is our understanding of success and failure right?
I feel, people will always judge you by the success indicators to the external world. Money, social status, education etc. What's imporant is how we understand ourselves. As  a success or a failure.

4. What is the social status of a person who is intelligent, educated, but not too accomplished and not so rich?
School teachers, social workers and many others who help people in need are held in high esteem. While many of them get their due, I still feel a person's success is mostly judged by his wealth.

 5. Does today's society acknowledge material wealth as success? If so, is it right?
I believe, everyone knows the answer in the bottom of their heart. 


6. Is education in Arts and Commerce inferior to Engineering?

According to me, its just a case of securing one's employment. In India, its easier to get a job for an Engineer. That atleast allows someone to gain a foothold in life. Sad state, but that's the harsh truth.

7. While we all discuss endlessly, are we ready to act?
Its a case of spreading the sense around. I feel one must be bold enough in deciding the best future for their kids and not play it safe.

The above answers were only my take on the BIG questions
Please share your thoughts too. The questions deserve to be answered by all...

Second Fiddle

After almost a year of disappointing cricket, the Indian Team finally put up a performance worthy of the 'World Champions'. The media has gone gaga over Virat Kohli's brilliant innings. 'The next big star in the making' blah blah blah... In the middle of all the praise for Kohli, there were invaluable contribution that were forgotten. Sachin & Sehwag gave the team a blitzkrieg start, Gautam Gambhir pinched in with a 60+ score. His partnership with Virat Kohli set the match up for a win.

Its not the first time such supporting performances have gone unnoticed.

India Vs West Indies - The World Cup Final, 1983

Kris Srikanth made 38 runs, the highest score in a total of 1983. Still we remember only Mohinder Amarnath's man of the match performance.

Sri Lanka Vs Australia - The World Cup Final, 1996

The Sri Lankan team created history by winning the World Cup final by batting second. The match best remembered for Aravinda De Silva's magnificent hundred. Yet, there was Arjuna Ranatunga who was there with Aravinda, with an unbeaten 50.

India Vs England - Natwest Final, 2002

The match best remembered for Yuvraj Singh & Mohammed Kaif's match winning partnership and also Sourav Ganguly's shirtless act at Lord's balcony. The Indian Team was down at 146/5 when Yuvraj Singh and Kaif staged the comeback. The scorecard read - 146/5 in  24 overs (Ganguly - 60(43) , Sehwag - 45(49) ).

India Vs Sri Lanka - World Cup Final, 2011

Dhoni hits the winning runs. SIX!!! The man with the midas touch had done it. The rest is history. Forgotten in the history books was Gautam Gambhir's 97 runs.

There are instances like these in all sports and throughout life. Looking back there have also been people who have played an important role in life from the sidelines.

Is it a case of  'The second fiddle does not get its due.' ?

Refueling the brain

My school days were competitive. Many times, there used to be more than one student tied for 1st Rank. This meant no 2nd rank, the next rank holder would be 3rd rank. It would be tie again between 2 students again. A single answer missed would lower your rank. This absurd competition continued even till engineering entrance exams. A single answer missed, means 1000 ranks down. The system was so crappy that inspite of securing over 90%, there were 9000 students who had secured more marks. 

 

I cared lesser, But in other people's lives the expectations were sky high. They sacrificed an extra year to take the entrance exams again so that they could score couple of more percentages. Some students buckled under the pressure, lost their socializing ability, self confidence. A person who scored over 80% used to consider himself a useless student. Some  parents even  used to consider their boy as a poor student because he scored 80% only!!!!

Its not only in schools that this kind of skewed perception is present. One bad appraisal, you are considered a useless resource. The managers make you believe that you dont have it in you any more. You are not as wealthy as your peers or traveled overseas, you are not brilliant enough. People judge others at every given chance. 

As absurd as it may seem, but that's  the way people think.

So much expectations, the self confidence of a person is ultimately lost. Its almost like one lives to meet others' expectations rather than his own.

But there's another problem, the world is a competitive place. You lose confidence, life turns miserable. Low energy levels, negative energy and stress creeps in. How do you keep yourself up and running? So how does one fix this?  

Two ways:

1)  Don't give a damn about other's judging you (THE HARD WAY)

2)  Every individual is the best judge of what he/she's capable of. Compete against yourself.  (EASY WAY)

When I look back at how I used to survive at school, I was never great at Biology. Therefore I never aspired to top the class in Biology. I knew that it was not in my DNA. But I always knew I was better at computers. All that mattered was whether I reached my target. Did I get >95% every time?  Never did I care how much the other person scored. I gave a damn even if the other person scored a 100. I missed my target, I was sad. I was my only competition.

There's competition at work too. Some peers get a bigger raise. Some of them have the knack of selling their ideas better. If I  can't do what other's do, it really does not matter. That did not make me any lesser. I solve problems faster than most people, write much better code. My core skills matters a lot to me. Its important I continue improving on what I do best. That's the competition which drives me to do better stuff daily. Of course, its important to improve on my weakness. But it will never be at the expense of my strengths. 

Winning at business, sports etc is a totally different approach. You need a proper plan, execute it well and play your cards  well.

When it comes to day to day life, to be happy, gaining confidence and be ready to face the next day; its necessary to know what works for you  and also to compete with yourself. Then you'd not care about what others think about you.

Coffee Break

During a coffee break,  discussion between a Fresher who joined the company and a Veteran Engineer.

Veteran Engineer: I'm not happy. Company's not hiked my salary this time.

Fresher: How much money do you need?

Veteran Engineer: Equally experienced folks in our company  get paid more than I do.

Fresher: But how does that affect you?

Veteran Engineer: Other companies pay even better :(

Fresher: Then why don't you make a move?

Veteran Engineer: The non work benefits are awesome here. Life won't be so cool at other places

Fresher: Sounds a good reason to stay back :)

Veteran Engineer: But costs are increasing. Fuel, rent, loans everything's gone up. How can I manage?

Fresher: But our company don't pay so poorly. You'll  also have several years of savings.

Veteran Engineer: I still don't have any money left...

Fresher: Even after being on overseas assignments for years?

Veteran Engineer: What's the use? My kid's school charge 1 lakh rupees. If they charge so much, what can I do?

Fresher: Your kid's in Engineering?!!! I paid far less for my engineering.

Veteran Engineer: Damn you, I'm not so old. Kid's in Kindergarten  only. But its an International school.

Fresher: Why in the world you'd put your kid in such an expensive school? Did ur studies cost so much?

Veteran Engineer: I studied in good convent. 

Fresher:  You're in a good position aren't u?

Veteran Engineer: They teach well, Teach very good English. Teachers are also extremely educated. Know, the school is awesome.

Fresher: OK, then what you pay is what you get. What's the problem?

Veteran Engineer: I pay so much already, the fees will increase from next month!!! So company must hike my salary.

Fresher: Why should the company hike the salary if you decide to spend more?

Veteran Engineer: I also have to invest in real estate.

Fresher: U already live in a villa. Anyways, If you don't have enough money, why  do you want to invest.

Veteran Engineer: I've invested already in few ventures. The property value have appreciated. So I want to invest in more ventures.

Fresher: Now I know what you do with all your money.

Veteran Engineer: Do you also want to invest?

Fresher: Dude, I just got started. Moreover, we have property at our hometown. I want to learn in the initial stages of my career.

Veteran Engineer: I'm telling you, other companies pay more. You must think of shifting.

Fresher: Whatever!!!!

Veteran: Hey. Meeting time, lets go

After a few weeks, the young engineer  left his job for a new one. The Veteran Engineer found an overseas assignment for himself.

Ultimately, the question was never answered "How much money do u need"

My Nose!!! I ran into a glass door

My anecdote may appear extremely silly or funny for those who read it,  but it was a painful few days for me.

A few years ago, I was part of a team that had traveled down to Bangalore for a cricket match. Our team were staying in the corporate guest house. Actually, guest house was more of a resort. Lush green lawn, European style rooms, garden, corporate lounge and a great restaurant. I was wowed at the luxury we were provided for just an intra-company match. I wished that I could make  my home like the guest house.

We had made it to the finals. It was the evening before the big match. I was in great spirits before the finals. The guest house made my evening even more beautiful. It was dinner time, someone yelled out my name from the restaurant. So much energy and excitement, I was sprinting towards the person.

The unexpected happened, I ran into an almost invisible glass door in the lobby. Nose First!!!! I had hurt my nose very badly. My eyes were filled with tears almost instantly due to the impact. I lost balance,  my head was spinning. For a few moments, didn't  realized what hit me. All I could feel was my nose was aching. For the first time, I felt bad for having a Big nose :) 

So much for a great guest house, there was a nearly invisible glass door(no handles, can u imagine?) right in the middle of the lobby. 

Adding insult to injury, my whole team was around me rolling in laughter looking at my plight. A few of them sympathized though. But the pain was totally mine to experience :( I still played the final next day.

I can see it as the  stupidity of the designers (to put a near spotless glass pane trap right in the middle of the lobby without any sort of marking) or my own carelessness not to see invisible obstacle in my way.

Ultimately I ended up hurting my nose. And the next few days were misery even to breathe :) 

Just thinking of the day I ran to the glass door, or seeing a Saint-Gobain Glass advertisements hurts my nose. 

In hindsight, I should've been more careful.

Damn!!  

(Nostalgic,  I written this post at the exact time I ran into the glass door - 10:30PM ) 

Pink Slip

The story is about what had happened just before and after an Engineer was given the pink slip.

Once upon a time, in a workplace not so far far away, there was an engineer who joined a tech firm. He was smart, enterprising and a bright individual. To many it appeared that his only passion was to do his work with unflinching dedication. 

Few months passed. Naturally, he was a top performer and earned his place in the team. Few of his team members admired him for his work ethics; few others for his charm. However most of them liked his brilliance at work.

Many a times, he went a great distance to get things done. Along the way knowingly or unknowingly, he stepped on others’ feet, called ‘Spade a Spade’, ticked off the wrong people in the organization chain and even ended up being stonewalled on a few occasions. 

Though he produced great results, the perception was that he was a tough guy to work with. His immediate bossed kept warning him about the perceptions that built around him. He believed that he was correct most times. He also knew that his behavior was less than appreciated on some occasions. 

However, he was barely successful in changing the perception around him. Life became miserable for him and also the folks he worked with. The most unfortunate situation was that his admirers were also among his detractors.

Amidst all this workplace politics, his well-wishers and the admirers he earned stayed true to him. Warned him of impending danger, tried there best to help him.

Over the course of time, his detractors decided to put an end to the misery. They were waiting for one failure to make their move. One bad day at work, he missed an engineering deadline and snapped at one of the colleagues from the management chain. The knives were out. Allegations flowed; he was crucified in front of the HR. It was like his detractors were waiting for a chance to fix things. 

Fired!!! 

He was devastated. It was like his career had come crumbling down. For his admirers, the management’s move came as a rude shock. By the time they realized what had happened, he was gone. The HR had already escorted him out of the building.

Professional conduct and bad performances were sighted as reasons for the pink slip. Some employees believed the reasons the management provided them for this termination. Others did not. The same colleagues who recommended his termination were also among the folks who felt sad for the poor engineer.

The day was gone, weeks passed. The organization had moved on. People forgot what had happened.

One fine day, a few of his colleagues found out that he was working in one the biggest firms in the tech industry. He was leading a happy life. 

Looking back at the management decision to show the door, no doubt it was a bitter episode. They made a choice and there was bad blood. It was never a question of who was right or wrong. A hard decision had to be taken, and someone made it.

In the end, life moved on for everyone.

Laptop Buying Guide for Beginners

I have written a new post on 'Laptop - Quick Buying Guide'. I hope it will be helpful for people who want to have quick reference to buying a new laptop.

Here's the link - Laptop Buying Guide

- kaushik

The Hangover

Writing this post with the assumption that most people have seen 'The Hangover'.  A group of friends who do not have any memory of the previous night's events and go searching for their lost friend. Things are a mess, but they have no idea of the ruckus they had caused the previous night.  Ultimately, they find their way through. The movie was one of the great comedy movies in recent times. 

This post is not about the movie, but about a similar hangover experienced when one goes to bed with negative thoughts. But there are lot of parallels the I can draw from the basic premise of the movie. That's why this post is titled 'The Hangover'.

One of the most important facts that one has to accept is that Human Body is one sophisticated machine. Billions of cells driven by electrical impulses from the brain. The muscles, organs form the mechanical parts whereas the brain forms the battery which drives these parts. Its only natural that the mechanical parts needs rest after a day's work. The brain too drains out of energy by the end of the day. Thus the human body recoups during sleep.

Any action that affects this recharging cycle of the brain causes a hangover in the brain the next day. When you take your worries, sadness and anger to bed, the brain naturally starts processing these thoughts. These negative thoughts are seen by the brain as stress. Instead of recharging itself, the brain immediately takes remedial action to release chemicals to counter the stress. This happens throughout the body. Though one still goes to sleep, the body does not get enough rest. The brain  working in the background ensures that :)

The effect cannot be observed immediately but only the next day. The body and mind wake up with a hangover. Neither the  body  nor the brain have any idea of what happened the previous night. This is because the recuperating is a subconscious action. Side effects are there to see - mental and physical fatigue. Not enough energy to pull through the day. The more this process repeats itself, one risks severe health issues. On the other day, with a good night's sleep, you wake up fresh in body and spirit.

This hangover is a common phenomenon observed by many when we operate with very less energy throughout the day. We never look back and  realize its due to negative thoughts in the head the previous day. Instead we go looking for tonics and medicines. Rather than addressing the cause, address the symptoms.

In short, its not a great idea to take your worries, anxieties and negative thoughts to bed. I'm also not implying that one must think something very happy before sleeping. We face bad days quite often, so its not always very easy to dig up happy thoughts at the end of such days.

But, the least one can do is to go to bed with a blank mind.  After all, the body and mind needs rest.

That's why the saying goes 'Sleep Like a Baby'. No worries, no thoughts before sleeping.

Now I'm going to sleep like a baby

Good Night

- Kaushik

Hand la Glass, Glass la......

Most days that I'm back from work I get to spend some time alone. The mind being the entity which never rests, numerous thoughts appear:  The Good, Bad and the Ugly. So many thoughts. It almost becomes impossible to figure out the positive ones from the negative.

When such thoughts occur, there are always two choices, spend time with yourself or socialize. When you socialize, the mind engages itself in other activities, but the questions that have been presented by the mind remains unanswered. The questions don't fade away, but come back another day. 

When you listen to the inner voice, what you want may become clear. Other people may  or may not understand , but most important that  you  understand what you want.

You can listen from none other than yourself about what you want. More often, spending time alone is a great way  to take stock of what's going on in one's own life. It"s the window to reflect on the events of the past, present and the future. The mind gets the time to connect the dots, form patterns and  relationships between seemingly random events that occurred in life.

So the question ultimately boils down to whether you give enough time for yourself. More often than not, it helps :)

Good Night,

Kaushik

I changed my android keyboard!!!

Whenever I write blog posts from my android phone, the experience has only been harrowing to say the least. The punctuations don’t turn out right, the capitalization was all over the place, spelling errors etc.My woes were endless. Fixing of all these glitches turned out to be more time consuming than writing the post itself. As it turned out, I was using the Swype keyboard on android. I was making gestures on the touch screen, which were magically interpreted as words. Swype also accepted keystrokes like a normal touch keyboard, but so much I had gotten used to using gestures that I almost forgot that it was a normal keyboard too.

So much was the trouble using the keyboard that I was contemplating to either stop writing posts using my mobile or using an iPhone. So much for Blogging on the move!!!!

As always, I was lured towards the Apple. Started finding reasons why android sucked big time and why my new hobby (which is barely 10 posts old) has to be done only from an iPhone. But my geeky wisdom kept telling me that getting rid of my Android was not the best decision. The marketing geniuses at Apple too didn’t make things easier for me be pricing the iPhone a good 10K rupees higher than the international prices.

The dilemma existed for close to a week. Ultimately, I came to a sensible conclusion that a lot of people including myself could do a lot more with 40000 rupees than buy a new phone. 

I don’t burn cash, well... I don’t have an iPhone.

I had decided at last, the next task was to work my way around the typing woes on my phone.

The solution was simple; I just reverted back to the Stock Touch Keyboard.  My troubles came to an end. Swype keyboard is a wonderful concept. It worked great, accurate but it was limited to typing short messages, chat. Blogging, emails were entirely a different beast to deal with. The guy's at Google had built a good robust keyboard. Now I’m happy. I can blog happily from my phone and moreover didn’t burn 40K in cash. And I can wait for the iPhone 5 later this year ;-)

Quite often, you are stuck in a situation similar to the one above. Life does not go as per plan. Something which you do everyday is often a pain in the neck.  There’s an overwhelming urge to despise what you do, find more negatives against  nagging troubles and make THE BIG Change. The mind too convinces itself  that complete overhaul is  the one stop fix to all your woes. You’ll be tempted to  start over, do something new.

Most times, all it takes is a small change to fix what’s troubling you. A break, a holiday, few minutes in solitude, calming music, friends etc.. The list of the small changes you can make is endless. Not all the changes work for everyone, but there’s at least once change that will work for you.

Figuring out what works is by trial and experience. You can always seek a counsel. Bottom-line, the more you are open to making the small change, the more chances it will work. The key is “Willingness to experiment” with what works and what does not work.

Go for it, make the small change. Its the easiest way to fix nagging troubles.  Most often, things fall in place.

Enjoy the evening,

- Kaushik

Questions for a lifetime: Yes, You can fly !

Questions for a lifetime: Yes, You can fly !: There are these phrases that get us thinking. I consider those best that get us till the very nature of human existence. This one stayed wit...

When I went shopping...

Many years ago, I was on the way to a movie, with two of my friends. The movie hall was in the 5th floor. So we had to find our way through the mall, find an elevator and reach the cinema.

Despite the fact that we were running late, both my friends decided to do some shopping or just look around some stuff I must  say. I was quietly following them when suddenly both of them started moving towards opposite sections of the mall. Tried following, but it was impossible, both were running in opposite directions :-)

In the desperate yet impossible quest to  follow both of them, I almost ran into the pillar right ahead of me. Had, I run into the pillar I'd have looked like an idiot coz I tried to be in two places at the same time. Then, came my moment of realization. Never go shopping with two girls :-). I quietly cut the chase and went shopping on my own :) Once all of us were done with our own shopping, we regrouped for the movie.

Since then I made sure that the episode didn't occur again. But time and again I was required to be in two places at once or run behind two different goals at the same time . Later, this is what I figured out.

Often, we try to chase two targets though they are moving away from each other. In the almost impractical solution to chase both of targets, we forget about taking care of ourselves. This results in stress, loss of energy, unseen obstacles and sometimes even missing our own priorities.

It's important to realize such situations, take a step back and give some time to oneself. When one  slows himself down at such times,  mind and vision becomes clear. The  moment of realization presents itself. The mind invariably resorts to the most practical solution. After all,  there's no point chasing two moving targets at the same time.

Happy weekend
-kaushik

Playing on....

Weekend's here. So lazed the whole day around. Don't have anything in store for today... :) In the meantime, please check out my other blog...

http://gamesnlifestyle.wordpress.com/

'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'

Enjoy the weekend.
- Kaushik

Screw my internet provider...

(mobile post, thanks to gprs on my phone )
I was supposed to be on Facetime to be part of a birthday celebration.Guess what happened, the internet went dead. It's not the internet I need to be angry about, but the folks who provide access to the internet service.

I was able to login to chat, but my friends list never loaded up. It would be very easy to just blame the chat servers because they were not accessible. Complain about poor service, The service provider will also try to convince me that the fault was with google or apple that the chat service didn't work.

This is exactly the problem with technology. Imperfect by implementation, but not by concept. Many times, It's important to identify if the technology itself is flawed or the guys who deliver it mess it up.

Today it was my service provider who messed up. Tomorrow it might be the google servers.

But what's more important is to recognize and acknowledge the fact that the concept of chat is not flawed/imperfect by itself but the experience can vary based on the delivery mechanism.

(leave your comments and feedback)
Good night.
-kaushik

Did you drink MILK today???

I'm going back almost 15 years with this one :) I was at high school. It was the same old start to the day, discipline, prayer session etc. All of us in the class were standing up and praying with our hands folded. Not because we wanted God to answer our prayers, but because the beloved principal, Thakkali (The Tomato) was at our class. The mood was serious. Even God wouldn't wish to see 50 odd people standing so seriously. We not praying to Him, but standing out of fear of Thakkali and his nuisance ways :)

Suddenly something out of the ordinary happened. A totally unexpected event and perhaps the most hilarious one in our Class' history. A friend came in late to class. He perhaps didnt realize that the principal was there at class. Of all the questions, he popped up a seemingly mundane, innocuous question to the person standing next to him - "Did you drink Milk today". The rest was history :-D

Bad luck, the Thakkali spotted him. The Class was in splits. We were not able to believe how could someone as something as simple as this, and worst of all get caught. Both the  friends were pulled up, punished, embarrased in front of the class and made to stand outside in the Ground for almost 2 classes :) Our principal, claiming to be strict was a total Douche Bag.

Back to the present, when I was making my tea one morning I recollected the above episode. Seemingly, one of the most innocuous questions('Did you drink milk today?') , presented itself in the most different perspective possible.

Am I following the same set of tasks everyday? It's not about work. Its about the fixed routine I followed when everything was alright. The seemingly boring  and simple day to day tasks like having my daily cup of tea, reading the newspaper, a 'Hi' to the security guards every morning etc.

However less significent they may seem in the overall scheme of the day, these simple actions are signs that I am  alright, normal when I  start my day. When I compare the days where I missed my routine with the normal days, its seems pretty apparent that I am not at my best throughout the day.

Being aware of the routine, goes a long way in determining for onself if he/she is starting off the day in a normal way. Some days may be an exception, but often it was a good indicator of one's  mental makeup at the start of the day.

Looks like the genius classmate of mine who asked "Did you drink milk today" was not so naive after all. May be he was just checking if things were normal. Thanks to Thakkali, he spent a couple of hours kneeling down in the Hot Sun and Tarred basketball court.

So, "Did you drink Milk today?"

Good day,

- Kaushik

What you want and what you get

A few years ago, I bought a house. I was really excited and really hoped that the house would be perfect. What I got  was full of imperfection. the doors were not aligned properly, painting less than satisfactory etc. I was grossly disappointed.

Then one a day a friend of mine suggested me, that it's not only my house, but no new house is ever perfect.

Initially it appeared that my friend was trying to console me. But thinking again, the wisdom in his words was clear.

My expectation was plain unrealistic.

A house  is  a product that is a result of the work of many. Even if one person's work was less than perfect,  the result was imperfect, and didn't meet my expectation. Assuming that things will happen according to my expectation  was not only unrealistic, but almost stupid.

Nothing's perfect, especially if it involves another individual other than myself. It always boiled down to getting the expectations right, rather than blaming others for not meeting my expectations.

The best I can do is try to be perfect, reasonable and honest in what I do. Whether it's doing my work, or being a friend or expressing my feelings or opinions. It will always be my decision.

But expecting others to do the same is simply unrealistic because they will be simply out of my control.

Being true , honest, perfect is completely the other person's prerogative.

All I have to do is just hope, not expect.

-Kaushik

Mission Impossible

Life is not mission difficult, but 'Mission Impossible'. The word difficult must be a cakewalk :) And You are 'Ethan Hunt'. Because life is MI, every new episode starts with a seemingly unprobable mission. You have almost an unlimited supply of energy, ideas and tools around you needed for the mission. But what's missing is the objective and the ways to achieve it.

You also have your team with you, who dont give up on you and part of each mission, playing the support staff. Sometimes you  build the team from scratch, other times the old team signs themselves up to be part of the story. There may also be old faces in the team, who have been part of each mission. You also lose your near and dear team members  along the way.

Over the course of the mission, you may try something as crazy as jumping from the Burj Khalifa or even run through a sand storm chasing a target. The set pieces  may even  require you to play someone as simple as yourself, use all the charm and get something nice done.

The role, craziness repeats itself for every mission.  The mission may last for days, or weeks or even months. The journey may be easy or difficult. The experience may be enjoyable or not,  but what doesn't change is that every Mission Impossible ends with  "Mission Completed".

Are you ready for the next mission?

[This Message will not self destruct in 5 seconds, coz this ain't the mission objective. THIS IS THE SCRIPT OF MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: LIFE PROTOCOL ]

Good Day!!!

- Kaushik

Broken, Beat & Scarred

"You rise. You fall, You're down, then you rise again. 

What don't kill ya make ya more strong. " -  Broken, Beat and Scarred, Death Magnetic, Metallica

Hidden in the middle of these rebellious words and the almost magical music of Metallica, there lies some hard truth which is mostly lost deep in  the metal mania.

My day was filled with hurdles. I fell, hit the ground so hard that it was almost impossible to get up. I was  down and out. I had fallen, But that not  the end of the story. I ain't dead, am I??

The day's over. I'm not done yet. There's still a tomorrow, I still have to be up and running. I'll rise again.

But  will I be stronger?? I dont know that, perhaps only time can tell when I look back in hindsight.

Signing off for the day, drowning in Metallica's tunes.

Yours Truly,

Kaushik

(as usual, leave your comments & feedback)

Surviving on a bouncy pitch

(mobile post. please forgive the typo)

Most Indians understand cricket. It's therefore easy to explain something with an analogy to cricket. With the backdrop of Team India's disastrous show down under on bouncy tracks, drawing parallels to this post is easy :-)

Batting great Gavaskar once said  "When you play the bouncer, you need to watch the ball till the last moment. When you do that, the reflexes take over. You automatically duck out sway away from the ball. Once you taller the eye off the ball, you get hit or lose balance and survival is a nightmare."

The above thought is also an analogy of how to handle everyday problems. Life is a bouncy wicket. One faces problems daily. Seeing a problem like a bouncing delivery sometimes allows one to survive with ease.

Seeing the problem till the very end, one can judge the intensity and magnitude of the problem.Hooking and pulling the way out of trouble might not be the possible way out initially. But, by watching the problem long enough, you give the mind to assess the situation, prepare to the task. Ultimately by letting mind take stock,  take control, one can address the problem or let it go.

On the contrary, taking the eyes off the problem, can get one in an awkward position. One loses balance, chances of getting hit increases, survival becomes difficult. Even after surviving the bouncer, the Morale takes a hit.

Seeing the problem in the eye till the end and surviving it with ease is off utmost importance to build the Morale and gaining confidence. It's hard work at beginning, but the results are long standing.

Practice ducking and swaying against the Short ball. One can survive with peace. Once that's mastered, with more practice, one can even hook the problem away for a six.

Have a great day.

As always, please leave your comments and feedback.

- Kaushik

Are you ready 'Let Go' ???

I always used to wonder how saints, monks lead a simple life, undisturbed by what's going around them. The saints were also detached from most of the material world. Yet they spread love and care to all of the world around them. They never get angry, emotional or worried and yet we perceive them to be completely in control of the situation.

Not a long time ago, I met one such person. A saintly soul, who I believe had the knowledge and divine power to solve all of my life's problems. The problems people brought to him were mostly health related, sometimes personal problems. The therapies and solutions he suggested to these problems worked more often than not. It was almost like had a magic wand. 

Like me, there were lot more people who came to him. He always had a solution to all their worries. He was never short of time or patience.  Though most of them never followed the  suggestions, he never held it against them. When they came back and mentioned that they did not follow his suggestions, He was always patient, calm, continued to help them find solutions. Every time, they were  treated  with the same care and concern. 

Like all people, I went to him with my problems. The problems were sometime related to my career, interpersonal relations, health, family, friends etc. Miraculously, his solutions worked each time. This happened for several years. 

One day, he passed away. I was sad, helpless. There was no dearth of problems though. But there was no one to suggest. I had no option but to find out solutions myself. I dug in deep, used all my experience....thought, thought and thought... Solutions never occurred. 

I started wondering... "How was He able to find solutions for not only my problems, but for everyone ". It took days, weeks. I was not able to find an answer.

Most problems, arguments, conflicts in day to day life  used to arise due to the imaginary sense of control I had in mind. Whenever  I 'perceived' that something was not alright, like most people I worried about it, wanted to take control, be in charge and fix it. Seldom did I succeed. I ended up being unhappy.

I asked myself. 

"What was common  to solutions to most of my earlier problems?" 

I kept asking the same question for many days. 

One fine day things changed, I connected the dots. I was able to find one common aspect that  was almost the only logical  'lowest common denominator' of most of my solutions.

"Let Go"

Most of the time, the solution was to "Let Go" of the situation or the concern or the negative thought.

Finally i found the magic wand. The solution was simple, yet powerful. 

To Solve a problem, all that I needed was to answer a few questions to myself.

1) Am I angry or disappointed  or worried at someone/angry? Is that anger affecting me? Does it benefit me being angry? Being angry/worried allows me to be happy?

The answer is NO. Whatever I was feeling was not making me happy and peaceful. Once I 'Let Go' of the feelings which made me unhappy, the mind naturally returned to a state of happiness.

2) Feeling helpless about a situation? Is the situation out of control? Feeling unhappy about a situation?

More often than not, when I analyzed the situation, there was more than one factor in a given situation which was out of my control. It didn't make much sense to hang on and think that I could take charge and control the situation. All that had to be done was to 'ACKNOWLEDGE that the situation exists'.

'Let go' of the urge to control something which is not under your control. The mind had less work to do. Less unnecessary work in fact. Mind returns to a peaceful state. Infact nothing's changed around you. Its just that mind has 'let go'

3) Worried about someone around you(relative or friend or even a random person)?

Is Worrying going to fix things? It was again going back to the imaginary sense of control I was trying to gain by thinking that I could fix other's problems or carrying the burden of others. Yes I could be of help to others, but worrying didn't change anything. All i had to do was 'Let go' of the imaginary control and worry. Once I did that, there was less load on the mind. The mind was able to function with more freedom. See things in perspective. All I did was 'Let go'

This is my experience. 

Life's by no means perfect, but way more happy than before. I have tried to 'let go'

Are you ready to do the same???

- Kaushik