A very brief review on Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Basically there is a seagull, Jonathan who believes a seagull is for more than eating dead fish head and flying only for search of it.

He believes there is more to flying, finding freedom in flying and believing that a seagull has more to life unlike what the flock has always preached him and the other gulls.

So the book intends to teach us to be like Jonathan, finding more meaning to life, getting out of the comfort zone, the power of dreaming and fulfilling the dreams as well.

Overall it's a nice book which can be completed in a very short sitting.

Poems

My recent love affair has been with poems. Happened to lay my hands on the book NINETY SEVEN POEMS from Penguin publications at Crossword, Pune which is collection of poems from Ninety seven poets. Each one of them has a different color.

Then I was introduced to some other poets other than those in the book.The most favorite among the contemporary poets has been undoubtedly Lang Leav. She is amazing. Every poem of hers is like a hidden treasure. You really don't know what's hidden in them until you find one.
Leaving one of them for the readers.

The most valuable thing for me is...

... Freedom...To be yourself, to have your likes and dislikes, to eat what you like, to wear what you feel comfortable, to express, to follow your heart...And yeah you learn it's value only when you don't have it...

Something from the old drafts

MY TRYST WITH THE AUDIOBOOKS

draft dated 6th January 2019

As I have mentioned in my bio I’m a very embryonic reader. I have read few books and I still read, but I’m far away from something called a voracious reader. Lately I have committed myself to be a consistent reader (someone who reads everyday come what may) and set reading goals and achieve them.

I have so far been successful in doing so. If not a paperback, I atleast login to my Kindle and read during lunchtime at the office. This has not only served the purpose of reading but also is great stress reliever break.

Audio books are very popular among readers worldwide. For me it was a new concept. I haven’t had a chance of getting an experience of an audio book. Recently I have had one such experience. I downloaded and ‘read’ ( read listened) the book ‘The Scion of Ikshvaku’.

I would say audible books are a boon to people who have a very busy schedule but still want to be in touch with reading, and want to know the contents of the book. Even thought it doesnt give the ‘tangible’ effect of the book, I think audible books work fine when it comes to self help books or narration kind of books.

Whatever be the format, books (reading) are something which help all your senses and so go ahead and make 2019, a year of reading!!!

...Reminiscing from old memories

Ganesh Chathurthi Post

A new post..on Ganesh Chathurthi...
Past few days have been worst..terrible...such that I had lost the hope to live...
Today on this day after introspection I find whatever happened to me was because of my reactions to the situations..people won't change for me...neither do I have to change for people...only thing that can and should be changed is my reaction to situations and happenings around me...
Today on this day I promise myself not to be impulsive...not to react...especially to people who don't matter much...
Thank you Ganeshji for the lesson...
Wish you all a very Happy Ganesh Chathurthi..☺
P.S.: Reading Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski.

Happened to come across this image the other day. Really how changed is life after social media has entered to this levels.

Facebook has come with 'n' options of updating what you are eating, thinking, reading, drinking, watching, feeling, making, celebrating, remembering, getting and what not....

Some combinations status which made write this post altogether......

1. XXXX is -- getting some fresh air 

2. XXXX is -- making connections 

3. XXXX is -- making noise (status by a 8 yr old kid)

4. XXXX is -- celebrating something

5. XXXX is -- looking at the sky

I happened to visit a cyber crime lecture wherein the lecturer told us an incident about how a girl from a high profile family always updated her status on a social networking site. Few notorious people with fake profile became her friends and kept following her profile. 

After a few days, she updated her status of a family trip to a hill station. Subsequently she kept on updating her status of the trip, when they left for the trip, what are they doing there, who is accompanying with them...These notorious people after getting all information robbed the house..and they made it big.

When the case was investigated it came to light that root cause of this incident was her updates which let them know about whereabouts of the family. This is the level at which social media has harmed our lives. Its high time that we do not make our private life, public. 

A note to end this post: read more, travel, work, love, make friends, and don't update this on social media. :P

To be or not to be...Visas questioned?

I have never aspired to go abroad and study or work...I don't know why it didn't appeal me or may be my family background was not such that they would encourage me to go abroad and study and settle down there...And it so happened that I stepped into NON-IT education streams and the chances lowered down...I don't have any plus or minus feelings about the same...

However today I went through a post which talked about H4 dependent visas and H1B visas of their spouses. Married women talked about how they worked while they were in  India and talked about how talented they were, and how they have rich experience of working especially in IT companies and how they are dependent on their spouse since they are married and went to The US to settle with their spouse. They talked how difficult it is in The US to survive with one earning person in the family. Many women said that they are getting treated for depression as they no longer feel they have a life, and have to ask their spouse for every little need of theirs to be fulfilled.

Women need to think twice before they marry someone who is working with H1B visa. They need to be aware that they will be getting a dependent visa. They cannot earn, own or even open a bank account without their husband permits to do so. They need to understand that their role there will be only to cook, raise kids and be a good homemaker. All this needs to be understood before they marry and go off...You don't get a chance to regret it later. And if you are comfortable with everything that comes 'free' with H4 visa: aunties in India will say arre Sharma ji ki beti US mein settle hai, friends will envy all your profile pics on FB and whatsapp where you will flaunt snowfall or parks, and ofcourse parents will feel proud ki humari beti ko humne engineer banaya aur dhumdham se shadi kar di...then the choice is yours.

P.S.: The views expressed here are solely in authors capacity and do not relate/represent any individual/entity/content available online/offline. 

Reappearance!!!

I lost her ...I lost her after 11 years of battle with dementia...

She brought me to this world...She taught me...to walk, to eat, to read, to play...She taught me how to live...how to love...to love fellow human beings, pets, books, everything around me..be satisfied with what I have...to be at peace with myself...Everything ...She is my God...My holy book...

It has been very difficult for me to cope up with everything after her...

At work front I'm still of view that a person like me should not be working in PSU bank as an officer. Either I'm too competent to handle it or not at all...Anyways that I'll write up in another post in detail.

I have taken up a challenge to be away from my smartphone for maximum time i.e. I don't use it in office anymore. I use it to minimum i.e. only to have a talk with my family once a day. Since then it has helped me a lot I have decided to continue it. It has helped me build concentration and focus specially in reading.

Yes, I have started reading. To make it an easy start I  started it with a chicklit......:P ..tada...Confessions of a shopaholic. Actually I have decided to re-read all the books I have read  earlier. Now that I have finished the reading that, I have picked The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell and almost halfway.

Festival seasons are on...and so are online shopping sites...and to be honest they don't catch my attention any more...They seem to be nothing but splurge machines...I believe to keep it small and simple..Yeah Yeah I'm not going to be spoil sport to all those love shopping online...You guys carry on...

Wish all you beautiful people a very Happy Navratri..C..Ya...

Thought to munch: MY GOAL IS NOT TO BE BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE, BUT TO BE BETTER THAN I USED TO BE ------------------------------Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Come back!!!

It has been more than a year that I have met you, dear blog. You know life has changed so much. Everyday seems to be so different than yesterday yet monotonous. Sometime it such a slow day, and sometimes time just flies away....

2015 started and has come to an end. The most beautiful and lucky year for me. Completed one more year in my job, got married, got transferred, bought my first car, had wonderful short vacations. All seems to be so good, rather it is good.

Reading task ki gaddi...slow chal rahi hai :( New resolutions in pipeline...:P few more days for the new year folks. Enjoy the few days of 2015. Will meet you soon with new look and updates...Love you dear blog...

Lets play it!!

I have grown up as small town girl...My childhood was like any other kid…where I  was  happiest when I got new books when the school reopened…Bread and jam was a luxury and cadbury chocolates remained unfulfilled wishes..A pencil of a rupee was sufficient to boast amongst friends and the best holiday was to grandma’s place. We, my friends and I, rarely got video games to play and internet to pass our time…Outdoor games remained favorites then…We used to play dodge the ball, hide and seek,  blind fold games and treasure hunt.

Today I realize, life is not different than the games I played while I was young…

There was a game called dodge the ball…the players stand around a circle…one of the player stands in the circle…other players throw the ball towards the player who stands in the circle and he tries not getting hit by the ball and not getting 'out' of the game…Do we play dodge the ball with life everyday. Yes I do .…some situations throw the problems/difficulties towards me…I try not to get ‘out’ with that problem…I play hide and seek…its my life’s favourite game…not mine…It hides…I seek…every time I try to find it…it finds such a hideout that I cannot find it…and atlast if I find it…it finds a better hideout…and everytime…it wins and I lose…it laughs at me like a small kid and I keeping staring at it..helpless…it blindfolds me every day…just to unfold it in such a way that it teaches me there is more to come…good and bad…best and worse…happy and sad…

Then comes my favorite game…treasure hunt…tired of all the games…this is the game which gives me hope, which fills me with energy and zeal to get  up and play…coz I know after all the weary day what I’m going to get at the end,  is the treasure , ‘ happiness, satisfaction and joy’  and I will say to myself, "All is well that ends well".

OXYGEN

Oxygen…aha we studied that it was some element essential for all living beings...what it has to do with my blog title...Oxygen! what does it cost? We do not know…I mean we never had to buy it...And we are humans,  right?  We do not value what we get in free…

Same is the case of Freedom/Independence…We are free…We are not deprived of it…so we have not known its value…Salute to all those people who bore  heavy cost to give us that in legacy…

So now it has been 2 days after the Independence day, all the ‘social networking patriots’ are asleep after loading the web with likes, shares, tweets …let us think what do we do to value our independence…

We are all lucky that we are not made to freeze at -2 degree Celsius in Ladakh or suffer 50 degree Celsius at Rajasthan border. We are those lucky people who have our life with more than what we call as  'needs'...

Can we do some small things to pay back to our motherland and her great martyrs. We are not expected to go at the border and fight, some minuscule things and we can pay back a bit of that…something that we can do every day without spending much time, energy and money

1)      Save water. Use water judiciously. We import crude oil.. Lord Help, we do not want our younger      generations to import water.  Spread the message to save water.

2)      Save electricity. The sun sets and we want the world to look beautiful for all 24 hours.

3)      Plant trees. And more important conserve them. One tree in a life of 60 years. Difficult??

4)      Make efforts to educate one person you know who is deprived of it. Who knows, he/she will educate 100 others.

5)      If each one of us decides to keep our surrounding clean, we could compete with the South East nation who claims to be one of the cleanest nation in the world.  We do not need to go and sweep the roads. All that we need to do is avoid littering on roads, trains and public places…Put the wrappers, empty food packets into dustbins..make efforts to segregate the garbage at our home into dry wastes and wet wastes. That will help in recycling

6)      Make minimum use of plastic. Carry paper/cloth bags for purchases. Take along with you bags even when you go to the mall. You will surely help to save the environment.

7)      Inculcate the value of honesty, transparency and responsibility at work and home. That will help us be a good human being

8)      Treat all individuals with respect and love especially parents. It will be a great country where old age homes will be closed (happily).…

These are simple things that I can think of,  at this moment …There are many things that can be thought of and followed…Define your own way of giving back…but the essence is we all need to give back in our own good way

And what will be the results…they will add a meaning to our life..something we can preserve till the end…something that we will have to pass on to generations to come…

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give"

NEW OFFICE

Hello to one and all!!!
I have been transferred to a new office wherein I'm quiet happy with the job I have been given...It has tremendous things I need to understand, learn, assimilate and grow...

I had met a very senior person from that department long ago who works in head office of the bank...I was so impressed by his personality, clarity of concepts, his speech...that I have always dreamt to work in that department...which has a considerable share in the banking business...and here I'm...Hope I will be able to contribute in the growth and grow too...

One thing I am trying to learn in the new office is how does the controlling center work...it has many functions to do...controlling..supporting..directing..all of them in synchronization with one another. Not a single department can work at its own. Given my very less experience in the job, I need to learn much more...

You know what, we really need to sort out things may be work, home, life...that makes your life easy. Else it happens many a times that you go on running, but the distance you have run is negligible...

I am in a way sorted out...I always have that checklist at hand, order in which work needs to be done. But I wonder how others do that? What methods have they adopted to make their life easy? If you have any of them, my comment box welcomes you...:)

All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination--EARL NIGHTINGALE

 

A year gone by!!!

I  have completed one year in my current job, and i'm pretty happy with it! A banker I'm!!!

But apart from my job there have been many things with which i'm disappointed...

You will say I'm the one who  is never satisfied with what i'm, yes so??? I' Agree

I believe I'll perform only if I'll be disappointed ( Constructive disappointment ) I'm crazyyy :P

So here I list down the reasons why I'm disappointed--------

1) I'm reading, but the pace is slow....i mean its taking me days to finish a book....OMG i come home hell tired and so i read some lines and doze of with the glasses and book on my fave

2) My family members are convincing me to whom should i get married and doing their thorough analysis on his bank balance and pay slips. OMG please give me a break...I'm well qualified to earn my bread n butter if not a Rolls Royce....and who wants dreams of it...I don't. So leave upto me whom should i get married to...

3) Even if I have said I'm pretty happy with the job, I still feel I need to focus more to grow. I'm just doing what comes to my table, and get out of office (That does not mean I ignore work,  I am in good books of my boss. Cheers!!!)

4) Last of the list...I'm not doing any justice to my health, be my BMI or nutrient balance. I'm not eating home cooked food, not exercising at all :( and moreover not handling my stress well)

Aaahhh!!! Still life has been good to me. And I have been good to it!! :D

My dear blog...I know I'm not been good to you...I don't write to you at all....But I know you still love me :D :D ...I love you too my dear blog...Love you loads!

Updates...

First update my blog is alive...
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just a friend becomes one of the best friends...
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Went for morning walks, went to the gym regularly :P...
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Read a beautiful book 'Journey of Lifetime' by Prateek Sharma
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Mom doing OK with health
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Job schedule busy busy
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last but more important of the updates
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Have taken up a new task to complete...might take months/years to achieve that...but i will hold on to it until i achieve it...
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Dear Blog and Blog buddies, pray for me...to get the strength and endurance to travel this new journey

Lend me your hand!!!

...I remember I had been out of station last fortnight.
While returning the train stopped at platform no. 2. It was 10.30 by my watch.

It was obvious that hundreds of folks had to move from platform no 2 to platform no.1 by walking over the bridge. And so we were hundreds of people being crushed (Don't take it literally).

While we were walking upstairs, I saw a very old couple doing the same task as we all were. The couple might be aged somewhere around 65+.  And I saw the old lady, holding her hubby's hand for support. He was carrying a heavy bag on his shoulders and had given her the lighter one.

Then i thought would he able to handle himself with the heavy bag, with his wife, with her bag if he/she slips. The answer was 'NO'. (This was what my brain calculated).

But then i thought what might the lady have thought while she held his hand for support! It was not the physical support/his energy which would save her. The only thing that made her held his hand, was her belief in him...as her better half...that he won't let happen anything wrong to himself or to her!!! That he would hold her if she needs...and that he would not let her fall!!!

This is what is belief, a stronger bond than anything which makes those relations bloom and survive and live forever.

Updates!!!

Sheer sin to post something after months
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Job very hectic
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Mom admitted to hospital
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Great relations at office
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Some wonderful friends for life-time
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Hide and seek with social sites
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Lot of thoughts blasting in mind every day/every minute/ every second
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Some irreparable losses
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and a new hope that this year will bring in new joys, new challenges, new lessons, new hues of life...

yyaaayyy!!!

I am happy to tell all my blogging buddies and to my dear blog, i got a job!

Now anyone on this earth would say, what great deal in that?

The reason why it is a great deal for me is, I had not taken up any job after I completed my studies. There were ample reasons for it. And I was happy being at home, atleast for some days. Then slowly i started getting frustrated, and a time arrived where I felt, i was not worth for a job. Buddies i tell you, don't ever be frustrated, depressed, feel worthless. It is the worst feeling you can ever have.

But then i don't know how, i got into a touch with a placement consultancy, he arranged an interview for me the same day. And i got selected in a very first attempt. I have stepped into an altogether different world. Its an MNC which is the leading one in the industry of travel and leisure. I have got a realization that its not a very flashy job when it comes to "PACKAGE". But its totally fine with me. I am here to learn, to get a good experience. And apart from that, monetary returns were not the only motivation why i have taken up this job. The other reasons are, that i get to live with my family, take good care of my mother, look after my home, live in my hometown...

These factors have motivated me enough to take up not-so flashy job, but i tell you i am learning a lot.

I am feeling so happy when i write this...and here i discover another hue of life, happiness is not a matter of things, its a matter of spirits!!!

P.S.: A special thanks to R. Ramesh, (of GLOBAL MADRASI), a blog buddy who has been so supporting and encouraging me to get through. Your comments are valuable to me! Thanks, once again!!

~~ CHEERS ~~

click click..

Yesterday I was arranging a very old photo album. While arranging it, i realized how precious are the moments we live as a person, as a child, as a daughter, as a friend, as a sister, as a neigbour, as a care-taker to a pet....in every way...in every relation...So precious that they bring tears in eyes when you live them once again through pics...NOSTALGIC...

Then i realized how important  it is to treasure all the memories...in form of scrapbooks, photo albums, diaries and any other way you can imagine of.

Don't treasure only very important occasions/events like picnics, birthdays, parties and family functions. Also treasure about small small things, when children play with their friends, make everybody happy...your pet dog moves around the house wagging his tail, you cry for someone else whom you hardly know, tension a night before important exam, party after exam..Do anything write it down, take pics, do anything...but treasure them!

After years, when you look back and question if have you lived your life to the fullest, see the pics, re read the diaries, then you will realize how beautiful your life was! How worth living it was!

So keep smiling and keep creating more memories and keep discovering more hues of life!!!

Oh my GOD...

...my blog might be saying this every moment...true...god save my blog...

I have not seen it since months...forgive me my dear blog....but u dont know what i went through all these days...it was the worst of my life i must say...the most unorganized...everything looked so haywire...no work...no personal life..no shoulder to cry on...i wish human minds had some valves to let go the pressure....

my feelings were crushed by someone, my own people. I should not have given them a second chance...but you know they mean a lot to me...so i did! So i forgave everyone even if i were shattered to bits...but now you know what i have decided not to believe anyone, anybody not any mortal in this world!

lot of frustration you can sense in me...and a hope i see in you that you will take away my frustration a bit.so i have come back...come back to tell you wish me luck...send all the good wishes...i need them desperately...

i promised not to let you away...but i failed...you're mine i know dear blog...so i know you will forgive me like i did to some mortals..

going with a promise to come back...very soon...

Random!!!

Is it necessary to have a structured well disciplined life? I mean to wake up at so and so a.m. to have 3 meals a day, to read one book every week???? Why can't we take life as it comes and do whatever our heart says at that moment?

I have seen people who never miss their morning walk, who never sleep before they write next day to-do lists, who never have tea without bath. (Don't count me in any of these :P :P)

Is it necessary to have 1 or 2 or 3 passions for which you would give up anything in life??
Why can't you be a person who has interests in 1/2/3 activities but is not passionate to give up anything for it!
Some people are passionate about photography or reading. They can't live without it.

Now i am not a person who has passion to death about anything. If someone asks me about my passion, they might feel i'm dumb after looking at my expression. I like reading, i'm interested in calligraphy but i can live without them if time or situation demands!

"What's your favorite color?", "Whose is your favorite actor?", questions like these and i'm dumb again.
I mean nature has created all the colors. I like all. I don't have a single favorite really!!! Now i don't explain this, and i have one color in mind which i will tell if you ask me. (Even at midnight :P) Doesn't it sound foolish? May be. But nothing better came to my mind when i was thinking about this!!!

When i talked to a good friend about all this, the only one thing he said is "SOUNDS FOOLISH, you are impossible" :( :D :)

And i said, "Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish".

P.S.:  You see the contrast in this post and the previous one. You see my mind works like a spring, it keeps on hopping! I sometimes feel I'm so so split on my thoughts! But anyways new avtars,  new experiences and more hues!!! 

~~ Cheers ~~