Parapsychology: New Frontiers of the Mind

Psychic ability is something we all possess to greater or lesser degrees, and it's something that can be consciously developed. Some people do have an intuitive "gift," just as others may have gifts for art, athletics, etc…..well I count mathematics also…:-)., however, we can all enhance the abilities we were born with. Well, we can very well do it through focused desire and concentration. Say for example, if I ask you that at this point of time are you aware of the slight sound of your breath as you inhale and exhale? Umm…may be No. Now wiggle your tongue. Remember that tongue? Most likely, you were not "aware" of even having a tongue until I drew your attention to it. Psychics have learned where to turn their attention in order to become aware of that which is normally outside of conscious awareness.

Psychics are not dealing with the "physical" universe as governed by known laws related to space and time, but are accessing non-physical information through non-physical senses. From a quantum physical perspective, there are no hard boundaries or limitations in the Universe, including those we generally perceive related to space and time. There is truly nothing that is "solid" or "physical" as we tend to think of it. There is a range of vibrations that constitute what we call physical reality, and as we rise above this, we enter the non-physical, just as when we heat water, it goes from solid (ice) to liquid, to gas, and seems to "disappear." Psychics are able to continue to perceive the "gas" realm of energy that is not observable to others.

Hope by now you must have got a basic understanding of the term “Parapsychology”.
The term “parapsychology” was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir and it was further adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research. Dr. Rhine was a professor in Duke University and is known as the father of the parapsychology. He was the one who started with the experiments for the subject. Rhine stated in his first book, Extra-Sensory Perception, ESP (1934), that after 90,000 trials, he felt ESP is "an actual and demonstrable occurrence." Imagine his craziness for the subject :-)

Though this is another side of coin that our science has still not granted this branch of psychology, a deemed status. It is studied on the basis of faith and not on the factual statements.

Parapsychologists study a number of ostensible paranormal phenomena, including but not limited to:

• Telepathy: Transfer of information on thoughts or feelings between individuals by means other than the five classical senses.
• Precognition: Perception of information about future places or events before they occur.
• Clairvoyance: Obtaining information about places or events at remote locations, by means unknown to current science.
• Psychokinesis: The ability of the mind to influence matter, time, space, or energy by means unknown to current science.
• Reincarnation: The rebirth of a soul or other non-physical aspect of human consciousness in a new physical body after death.
• Hauntings: Phenomena often attributed to ghosts and encountered in places a deceased individual is thought to have frequented, or in association with the person's former belongings.

Surveys show that precognition, particularly in dreams, is considered real by at least one third of the general population.

Precognition is the direct knowledge or perception of the future, obtained through extrasensory means. Precognition is the most frequently reported of all extrasensory perception (ESP) experiences, occurring most often (60 percent to 70 percent) in dreams. It may also occur spontaneously in waking visions, auditory hallucinations, flashing thoughts entering the mind, and the sense of "knowing." Precognitive knowledge also may be induced through trance, channeling, mediumship, and divination.

Usually the majority of precognitive experiences happen within a forty-eight hour period prior to the future event, most often it is within twenty-four hours. In rare cases precognitive experiences occur months or even years before the actual event takes place.

It has been almost over a period of 130 years for the existence of parapsychological phenomena but no scientific justification from research conducted has been made till now. There have been a lot of controversies over the small research which has been made till date. Many questions has been raised on the science of parapsychology and thus many in our community call it as “Pesudo-Science”.

A few of the critics of parapsycological research and answers to them by the parapsycological community is listed down:-

• Anecdotal evidence, characteristic of most of parapsychology, is inherently unreliable. Anecdotes may have natural, non-anomalous explanations such as random coincidence, fraud, imagination, or auto-suggestion.
• Parapsychology experiments are usually poorly designed. They often lack proper controls, allowing paths of intentional or unintentional information leakage through normal means, etc.
• Parapsychology experiments are rarely replicated with positive results at independent laboratories.
• Currently unexplainable positive results of apparently sound experiments do not necessarily prove the existence of psi phenomena, i.e. normal explanations may yet be found.

Responses from parapsychologists to some of these criticisms include:

• The hard evidence for psi phenomena today is founded on repeatable experiments and not anecdotal evidence.
• There is no such thing as a 100% foolproof experiment in any field of science, and it is unreasonable to hold parapsychology to a higher standard of epistemology than the other sciences. Fraud and incompetence in parapsychology is addressed in the same way it is addressed in any other field of science:
• Experimental protocols have been continually improved over time, sometimes with the direct assistance of noted skeptics. Meta-analyses show that the significance of the positive results has not declined over time, but instead have remained fairly constant.
• Anomalous phenomena do not disappear for lack of a theory. There have been many instances in the history of science where the observation of an anomalous phenomenon came before an explanatory theory, and some commonly accepted non-psi phenomena today still lack a perfectly satisfactory, undisputed theory. For instance, in the past, those who cited meteors falling to the earth were dismissed as madmen or false prophets.

Hmm, a sincere and serious try of parapsycological community to answer critics.

Well, if you ask my view on the topic, even if you do not ask, then also I will tell you :-), my faith says no theory on this planet is completely baseless. There is some logic to it, if not much, than atleast to an extent. I just can’t pronounce that the belief system of a community that has been there from several thousands of years is groundless. I have personally not encountered any ghost or spirit nor have any ESP experiences till now but still I just don’t deny its existence. Our science says that “Energy can neither be created nor can be destroyed” and our body is nothing but is made up of atoms and mass, which is again a form of Energy. So, in this respect a question appears that if you can not create nor destroy energy then where does the human energy go when the human dies? Ones energy doesn't leave just put to rest. I have a theory that our souls and energy as humans are recycled.

Well, the concept of existence of ghosts can also be supported by the idea that time exists both simultaneously and linearly, just like Quantam Physics, is a difficult one to grasp. One analogy is that of a book. At any given moment the entirety of a book exists in itself but at any given moment we can only read one page at a time. The other pages, while existing simultaneously with the one we are reading, remain outside our consciousness. If we could somehow read every page of the book at once, or be able to experience the book in its entirety in a single moment then we would be closer to a real experience of it. Similarly in our lives we are conscious of only one moment in time, the present, rather than our past, present and future together. The past is remembered but not physically experienced, the future remains unknown. And, definitely this past and future form of ours is stored in the form of energy. But that's your own personal preference on the perseverance of energy in the unchanging and disembodied form i.e. ghost or spirit form.

And moreover regarding the evidence, the rule of the thumb is that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and we can very well presume that the evidence needs to be better than what normally would be required.

I know our science has seen so much advances that once which was unbelievable has been proved. The best example is the Wright Brothers invention. In spite of so many facts, I will still stick to my say that though ESP is not currently explainable within the framework of mainstream and conventional science, the parapsycology still cannot stand completely baseless. It’s just that we did not get a chance to experience ESP’s or our senses unlike a few are not developed enough to perceive the hidden. The unexplained concept stands on the facts of faith in today’s world and faith is something which needs a support of personal experience. If a certain faith is proved for me I will take it as a reality else I won’t.

Umm, I have personally met so many people who have encountered ghosts or have clairvoyant perception and definitely, to these few people, whom I know, I cannot label them a fraudulent, as some of them are my friends and few are quite elder, knowledgeable and respectable person of the society. Also, I have never tested their speech and have never confirmed my future deeds with them as I do believe if something has to come, let it come naturally, as then I will be able to learn through the experiences. Without raising a question on their efficiency, I respect their knowledge and gift of defining the unknown. Think this science needs more time to prove itself scientifically and thus to emerge as a double advanced-science. In short, I neither accept nor I deny! Just waiting for my turn to experience ESP.

Source: N no. of websites, online books :-). Gosh, I have done a detailed R&D to conclude on this topic. Phew!!!

Masoom si ZINDAGI

Ek masoom si ZINDAGI ka,
bus itna sa fasana hai,

Kagaz ki haveli hai,
baarish ka zamana hai,

Kya shart-e-mohabbat hai,
kya shart-e-zamana hai,

Awaz bhi zakhmi hai,
aur woh geet bhi gaana hai,

Uss paar utarne ki
ummeed bahut kam hai,

Kashti bhi purani hai,
tufaan ko bhi aana hai,

Samjhe ya na samjhe
wo andaaz zindagani ka,

Ek khas shaks ko ankhon se
ek sher bhi sunana hai,

Bholi si ada,
koi phir ishq ki zid par hai,

Har taraf sirf aag ka dariya hai
aur doob ke jaana hai...

Har taraf sirf aag ka dariya hai
aur doob ke jaana hai...


Source: Some old notes

The Trouble

You are burdened by a guilt which is now manifested as repressed fear. You think no one will notice it unless it is disturbed. But you personalized your "guilt" a long time ago and now it makes you restless. You know now that you have sinned. But still you would like to remain in the protective shell of your surroundings but some aspect of your life has become too "hard". You are neglecting something; you want to walk before you can crawl. You have disturbed the natural flow of events and now your rash and hasty actions have led you to the edge of a precipice. A piece of the path is missing between the first step and the third. You want to pluck success out of thin air without going through the effort of taking one step at a time. Now you are literally suspended in thin air. There is a danger of your roots driving down so deep that you can never find the strength again to free yourself. Please realize that it’s high time for you and you do not have the other option than to struggle with an inner choice. There are two ways of tackling the current problem. One involves reconciling yourself to the conditions of life — i.e. acceptance. The other suggests rejection and becom¬ing strong and thus to take a stand for your inner say else you could miss a chance to forgive (yourself, someone else or your destiny). The forces of wisdom and bitterness are fighting for control of your soul. I know you are going to face a tough situation. Let me assist you in it. Believe me; a journey of release will help you in growth. It’s time to discard deep-rooted anchors – what has been holding you back? Let it go. Discard your EGO which has been holding you from taking a move. Be courageous enough to take the responsibility of your deeds, it hardly matters if it is a sin or a kind act. If you have a conscious which is not dead, if you have got a good understanding of emotions, if you value relationships, if your thoughts resembles to a courageous Prince, if you have a pure soul, if you understand the depth of the pain, if you have guts to accept your fault and if God is there to help flora and fauna; you are bound to pay a revisit else you are just another member of the mob. For sure, if you have all the stated prerequisites, you will end up in making a judicious proceeding which will finally lead to your search for peace and that is none other than the person whom you have sinned. Each one of us fall, each one of us is surrounded by dilemma, each one of us is asked for sacrifice, each one of us need happiness, so there is nothing wrong if at times you could not make the right move and it’s never late also to realize. Main idea is to realize and correct it and in return you will get what you have wished for…well… I do not believe it, I know it!!

May Be

Note: I am writing on behalf of Ms. Blanche Durosit

Banks of river Seine was our first meeting place. It was part of my duty to look and hunt for new “cockroaches”. I know they were source of my bread but it was completely my talent that always made them slipped on my buttery and trickery web. Yes, you guessed it right! I was a Tourist Guide and my job was to trap passengers, coming down from the ferry, and make them aware of my beautiful city, Paris. It was another aspect of my charming personality that I was able to fetch a much higher commission fee from my goodie goodie fool fool customers.

It was Sunday morning when I first encountered him, can say the most beautiful morning of my life. It was so striking that I still remember the date also, 18^th October ‘1982.

l was almost 99.9% lucky that day. That day, I was eagerly waiting for a “cockroach” but you know what, inspite of getting one, I got bordered by so many cockroaches. A mob of 3-4 passengers surrounded me and enquired about my fee. I was surprised to find out that my rival tourists guides were not on the shore as all of them were busy in attending another ferry. Great! What else I can wish for. So, without wasting my time I doubled my already raised fee and finally enclosed a deal with a cockroach.

“Excuse me Madame” could you please help me out to find the way to Alexandre Dumas I have booking there.

“Alexandre Dumas” I screamed while turning back. My eyes got broad due to maximization of greed in my retina and surely they became greedier after seeing…umm……after checking him out!!!>>>

“O Sir, you are looking for Alexandre Dumas, I know the hotel. It’s near Eiffel tower. Let me assist you………

oh shit!! I just realized that I am carrying a cockroach with me.

“Wait a minute Sir, I will be back soon” and I straightly traveled few meters and dropped a note “I am really sorry Sir, I won’t be able to take you on a ride of joy in my lovely city. I just learnt about the ill health of my friend, so I have to leave. Thanks for choosing Blanche Tours & Travels. Have a nice stay!!” I completed my already prepared sentence in front of cockroach.

Well ……what an effect of a 5 feet 10 inch tall guy having gracious looks.

But to tell you, I was equally beautiful and famous in my society. Even I had a huge list of admirers. It was Blanche only who never gave a glance. Obviously, I too had an attitude of my own.
But here the case was more than a charming face. He had a reservation in Alexandre Dumas, a classy hotel for classy people …..ding dong  :-) Definitely he will be a fool who will miss the opportunity to assist; I mean to fetch a handsome amount from such a filthy rich customer.

“Yes Sir, tell me how Blanche Tours & Travels can serve you”

“Ms Blanche, I am here for a week. Make my trip memorable. Show me the best of the city and force me to come back again to this capital of wonders” He proposed his scheme.

“Definitely Sir, I am masters in making voyages unforgettable” I sarcastically threw at him

 “O yaw! Well, I have a very cool name which sounds far better than Sir. I am Sonart Roger. My mum calls me Sona” phew!! he said it very impressively

“Hello Mr. Sona” I welcomed him with my infectious and intoxicated smile.

“Well, it will be good if we can discuss my fee beforehand. And since you know, I left my customer for you, so I will be charging a double amount”...”Damn!!” the words were in upper palate of buckle cavity of my mouth.....don’t know why they did not  wished to transform into sound......his magic>>>

“Let’s directly go to your booking place Alexandre Dumas. Take refreshment and I will take you on a ride to some choosy places, and to put in your kind notice other tourist guides do not take their customers to such spots. I have selectively chosen it for you.” my excitement do not needed any more adjectives to convey my plan of joy.

Then finally we reached to the topmost luxury hotel in town. My elation knew no leaps and bounds after seeing the interiors of the hotel. Woo, my dream was almost half fulfilled after having taking breakfast in an exclusive inn that too with the sexiest person alive on the planet. Guess, my 99.9% luck got changed into 100% :-). Nice for me! What a refreshing Sunday that too with a sexy guy :-)

One thing was for sure, something happened to me that day. I was not like before. Was a bit different not only in my personal activities but with my professional career also. I never ever have behaved in such a strange manner. Believe me I used to be very smart!!

So, here comes my choosy and selectively spotted place where other guides do not take their customers. (Definitely, no guide will take atleast a bachelor to this place)

“Here we are Sir, this is very untouched and recently rarely visited place-----“The Zoo” my enthusiasm wrapped up with my bubbly innocence came out this way.

“Here you will feel very close to nature. You will get a chance to learn the behavioral pattern of animals. Wow, just imagine! You will spend a luxury time as well as will add up to your knowledge.” I tried my best to make my insensible act sound sensible.

“God, please help me, I am knowingly climbing up, step by step, the ladder of insanity. Stop me.”.......but few thing’s are meant to happen.......that day, full day, non stop I chit chatted with him and told him quick and fast facts about animals. I would have sounded atleast descent if I would have told him about the imprisoned animals. Huh!! I was playing the part of goddess of fool that day. I made him aware about the difference between mules and donkeys, both in their genetic and the working difference. Further, I gave him a lecture on laughing expressions of rabbit, mating calls of birds and cruel activities of Dogs. Thank God...day ended...it was evening...else would have tortured him for long with my thoughtless tales.

I am sure you will be eager to know his expressions.

He smiled throughout the day. He did not even tried to move his eye balls from me...not even for a second.

He was completely lost and thoroughly enjoyed my lessons on animal kingdom.....uhu..uhu....domestic animal kingdom. Believe me I am not lying. He himself gave this feedback after returning back to hotel.

“He must have gone nuts!! Aaaa, good for me” it was my relaxed sigh.

It was his second day of trip. I took him to bank.

Seriously what a %#!#$&*$@# ....I am. I am just too much. I am charging him for tour and I used him for my personal work.

See, I am not actually that bad. I just came to know that I need to urgently transfer my money to my dad’s account. Kindly note the word “urgent” so it was my helplessness which powered me for such an act.

“Sir, this is a very good bank. It is counted in top 10 local banks of Paris. Inorder to give you a feel of daily routines of citizens and to make you aware of the ways by which they tackle their daily needs, I accompanied you to this place. Here you will come to know how local banks of Paris work. And again mind you, no tourist guide will count it as a spot.” I simply told him in the simplest possible way.

“Oh Thanks to you for taking me to such a good local bank of Paris Ms Blanche. I was too in need of local currency. You carry on with your urgent work and meanwhile I also fetch some franks.” This way he lifted up my guilt feel.

“How cute he is?? Now, I realized why I was acting differently. His gracious acts and simple deeds were forcing me to fall for him and people in love are bound to act differently...guess in a more insane manner......whatever it may be.....the feel was different and I was happy.

It was third day. This time I took him to a selectively chosen spot. No, I am serious this time. I took him to a historical building, located at the west end of the country. It was a lonely place but very peaceful. It was very less visited by people. Because of this serenity, it was my favorite place.

“Sir, this is my personally preferred place. In my ups and down I come here. The soothing blow of air, passing through the layer of calmness, gives me a sense of sensitivity and I easily reach to my conclusions. I am not sure whether other tourist guides take their customers to this place or not but you are the first one for me to whom I wanted to pay a visit to this place.” Sweetness in my voice jammed the moment.

He looked into my eyes and murmured “You are unique Ms. Blanche. I liked everything about you. I liked your silliness, your innocence, your imagination, your analytical skills, your chirpiness and now your maturity.”

Uff, how to explain.....everything got freeze......a moment of silence crossed our path.

Almost for an hour neither he said anything nor I. We exchanged our emotions through eyes.

Well, he then took the lead and asked me if I would like to go out with him to a place of his choice.

I voluntarily agreed, nodding my head, I rumored “Let’s go”.

Aah!! Can you presume the place he took me?

“Dear Blanche, it’s my third day here in Paris. And I must say that you are really perfect in your job, as you made me traveled half of the country in just three days but yes except this place. So, I was wondering if I could take you here.” In a very smiling approach he placed his say.

“I wholeheartedly like you. I know it’s just three days but many a times we do not need a long to value our true emotions. From the very first second, I felt different and unique emotions with you. ............he was left blank for second..........................................................and then continued..........................................................................Would you company me to my original city Madagascar and spread happiness in my home? Would you like to spend your life with me?” bending on his knees he delicately made a proposal in front of Eiffel tower.

In reply I simply hugged his masculine physique.

So, this is my story, a simple sweet love story though a very small one.

It was his last day of trip.

Cruse blew its last whistle. But we were not yet prepared to say goodbye.

He tightly hugged me and whispered in my ears “Blanche, you have made it difficult for me to leave the country. I will miss you badly till our next meet. Do post me letters and pictures of our treat. I will convince my parents and will be back soon to take you away for forever.”

My eyes became full of tears. I decided not to cry till I see him again as the tears were of joy and overloaded with love emotions. Therefore, I managed to roll them back. I did not wish to say him a temporary bye with weeping eyes. I then gave a big smile and said “Go! Else you will miss your journey.”

Today is 15^th February ‘1984. I have not wept in between. My tears are still waiting to come out. I am still waiting for him.

It has been almost 1.5 years. But I haven’t forgotten a single moment. My heart still says that he truly loved me. I undoubtedly believe that he was a gentle person as my eyes marked him out of the total population of 2,203,817+60% visitors of Paris. My soul knew him; we were made for each other. It’s not simply my blind love for him which is bluffing and asking me to deny the core facts but my firm faith in my own decision. I have no idea, why Sona didn’t come back? Why he didn’t communicate his situation? Why he left me alone to face the world? How that innocent person became so unemotional? I just do not hold any answers to any of his unsaid actions. I simply know that I was true when I was with him and these memories are assets to me.

What to say further, I was so much troubled with his thoughts that I dropped my Blanche Tours & Travels. That shore reminds me of him. I just made a quit to my job and started working in a shop as a sales-girl.
But still I daily go to Seine’s bank in the morning, to request any of the traveler of the Cruse to carry my post to Madagascar and hand it over to a person named Sona, if by chance he/she gets to meet him.
I still remember his last words while our departure. He asked me to post letters. I am living up to my promise till now.

I daily write a letter to him stating my current situations, about my past circumstances which I was then not able to share with him, a few notes on morality and principles which means a lot to me, my wishes and about the perseverance of my feelings for him. I write it in such a way that only Sona could read and understand my say and not the traveler, in short I do it in code words. Only my heart knows, daily how I gather my all senses and trust in my soul, to write a letter again as my day, daily ends up in hopelessness. This way, I am leading my life on this faith that someday Sona will encounter with the chosen traveler and he will receive my news.

“MAY BE” after reading my letters he will come to know about the depth of my Love for him and decides to come back.

                                                     
My comment: Tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of relief, and tears of unfulfilled wish are good for us as the eyes are the doorway to the soul, and thus tears cleanse our soul. But for the first time I came to know about the tears of waiting………….just keeping patience to check out its power. If he comes back…..it will get proved that an honest heart which is good, sincere, open, ready to accept and give love unconditionally holds the majesty, magic and mystery of turning a dream into a reality else……..

Well, I just do not wish to speak much about Sona, because I am not aware of his situation, his emotions and his thoughts. I completely agree with Blanche that if she is still waiting for him then definitely there must be something in Mr. Sonart Roger which our eyes could not see. Even I consider that certain circumstances lead to the wrong or forcible judgment. But one thing is for sure, knowingly or unknowingly Sona committed a Sin. Yes, I would not call it as a mistake but a sin to translate such a chirpy and bubbly girl into a dead and lifeless body.

My best and heartiest wishes are with Blanche. May Sona someday receives her letters, realize her pain, recognize her love and revert back. May their Love blossom with the kick of the Spring. Amen!

Kalpana ki Kalpana

Note: One of my dearest friend Kalpana drew it. It started with two dots and ended up in Shivji's portrait. You will be surprised to know that this is her rough work in her office notebook. Thanks to Kalpana for allowing me to use her copyright work. :-)

Trees that wood

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing
their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty."

Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me."

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, "This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter" ... and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said,"I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one", and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time. Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep
the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "Peace" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.


Source: Random Google result

A Comment

Note: The best comment I have ever received.

So religious yet so logical. A beauty of being a true philosopher.

Religion & I

Religions in principle preach love for mankind and are meant for transforming our hearts and taming our minds with a view to realize the divine spirit within us. Religions were meant to overcome one's weakness but ironically they themselves have become one's weakness.

You will very frequently witness people saying “my dharma says this” or “this is against my dharma” bla bla.....In real the word dharma in Sanskrit has a variety of meanings. It is used in the sense of justice, moral values, pious obligations to others, right conduct, giving alms, natural qualities etc. But do you actually witness people following it in real sense. I am sorry, but the meaning of the teachings gets changed as per our concern and situation.

If I go deep down, our mythology has a concept about our religion which is known to a very few of us. Let me make you aware. As per our Indian philosophy there are six systems 1). Samkhya 2) yoga 3) nyaya 4) vaisheshika 5) purva mimamsa 6) uttara mimamsa.

And you may be surprised to know that one of them i.e. Samkhya does not beleive in the existence of God. It admits only the purusha and prakriti (the matter and spirit). I, in person, try to follow Samkhya!!

In a broader perspective there are two things before every religion: 1) Life on this earth and 2) Life hereafter. You will seriously laugh, if I tell you, I know many people who make their life miserable by knocking down their heads to the issues related to the other world by considering Karmic effects and planetary movements, and many of them are highly educated also.

Well!! One thing is but obvious; nothing on this earth is irrelevant. Like everything happens for a reason similarly everything has got its own base and sound concepts. I follow and respect every concept, may it be science facts or religious teachings, but not at the cost of sight of blindness. You will be surprised to know that I too believe in astrology, palmistry and planets. Even I have studied various Western and Indian astrological concepts and their effects on our life. According to my understanding the core fact which I was able to grill out after doing so much R&D is:

Astrology says “Everything is fixed, yet not fixed” means planets and your karmas make you fall in a situation which may be in your favor or just against you but still ball lies in your court to play the final game of destiny. I personally believe that there is nothing beyond the power of your soul. Things may get worse or things may go good what actually matter is how we take and tackle it. Do you sincerely feel that the persons who are successful have got it easily? Their planets worked always in their favor. Good and bad, sad and mad, toughs and crest, life and death, smoothies and challenges are part and parcel of our existence. It happens with each one of us, it’s just, at times we realize and many a times we do not. If the previous statement reveals something which is but obvious to happen with each one of us then what is the issue of denying it or fearing it. Key to be a winner in life is to “Believe in yourself and your beloveds, do not ignore the power granted to you, your own will”

At last, I can only say that religion as preached by its founders is a blessing but as practiced by some of its followers is a curse.

A Famous Line

Love marriages around the world are simple: Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. They get married.

In India, there are a few more steps:
Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl’s family has to love boy. Boy’s family has to love girl.
Girl’s Family has to love Boy’s Family. Boy’s family has to love girl’s family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.


Note: Lines taken from Chetan Bhagat's novel "Two States"

A Silent Invocation

“Yaar, let’s have golgappe. Wat say?”

“Haathi kahi ki, Itni badi hai size main tab bhi poori Idiot hai, chup chaap upar chal. Pagal see hai, ise har waqt khaane ki padee rehti hai.”

“Hadh hai dopahar ho gayee hai and itni door aaye hai to golgappe khake hee jaayenge and pastry bhi, morning main ekdam fresh milti hai....yummie”

“Hmm, ok! but I am telling you it’s not a good idea to go and have golgappa first.
We should go empty stomach”

“Arey its ok yaar, itna nahi sochna chhaiye, bas abb deemag mat khaa and chalte hai golgappe ke liye..!!!”

Yeepeee....after such a long discussion finally I managed to convince my friends Mani and Anu to go to market first and satisfy our greedy tongues, especially mine.

I was so much hungry that I did not need to place my order to shopkeeper. Eating items were quite visible in my eye balls. Picture of Golgappa in one eye ball and pastry in other. Shopkeeper read the order himself and said “Madam, we neither have golgappa nor pastry”

“What? But it’s noon. Pastries are delivered to your shop early morning by the delivery van and your chef starts preparing golgappa’s after 11 AM.” I forwarded my knowledge about his shop.

“You are right Madame, but today delivery Van didn’t come and chef has not yet started making golgappa’s” Shopkeeper regretted.

His words flushed all the pictures exposed in my eye balls. After hearing him my fatty cheeks hanged down out of sadness.

“Dekha, naa hee teri pastry hai naa hee golgappe abb chal” Anu screamed.
“Let’s try in other shop, we can have aloo ka paratha in nearby dhaba and after that we all can have ice-cream” I shared my plan.

I guess, it was our bad luck that day, dressed up in best of its outfits. To our surprises we didn’t get paratha’s and ice cream also. It was really unusual.
Shoghi, is a small town near Shimla. But still it has 20-30 shops and moreover it was 1 pm.

Actually, my group (I myself, Mani and Anu) were in a habit of visiting Taradevi Temple every Sunday. The temple was located on the highest peak of Shoghi.
On every Sunday, langar was organized in the temple’s circumference in afternoon. In order to avoid tasteless lunch of our college’s mess the trio used to go and do darshan of Tara mata and eat her prasad in langar. Sounds disgusting!! But atleast try to imagine the taste of the food, how much disgusting it will be, that it forced us to perform this act. Hope now atleast your sympathies will lie with us :-)

All three of us were the leaders of lazy assess; to get up late on Sunday and miss the breakfast was a routine. Nothing new!! But you know this way; unknowingly, we made and followed the trend of visiting the temple empty stomach.

Like every Sunday, this Sunday also, we were waiting for Bus from Shoghi for temple. That day we were a bit late in reaching the bus stand of Shoghi and thus missed the bus. The next Bus was scheduled after half an hour.

So, all the above stated conversations took place in between that half an hour.

Meanwhile, bus arrived and we started our journey. Journey which ends in tasty food. :-)

We landed up to the temple’s circumference and after taking Mata’s blessings we marched towards langar hall.

Please...please....please.... do not laugh, if I say that we did not get langar also. Actually, we were late and by then it was all over.

O Dear God, sure shot it was my turn to hear from my friends.

“Laalchi kahee ki...aa gaya maza.....mil gaye laddu pede.....mana kiya tha but tujhe to khaane ki padee thee” mani showed her anger this way

“Listen guys!! It’s not my fault only, you are equally chargeable. Being a majority, if you would have denied my request for food, then things would have taken a different shape. As then I was bound to follow you. So do not blame me for your hunger” I was quick enough to balance the situation.

But surely, the happening left all three of us in great confusion. We were not able to decide and give the name to the experience. We should call it as “incidence or co-incidence” was the only question.

Guess, our act of visiting temple with the intention of having lunch there was a mistake in our eyes. But it was compensated by our act of taking the Goddess blessing with an empty stomach in her eyes. So, she never punished us. But this time we did a mistake and we got our share of silent beat also from her.

So, this was the episode which happened to me almost 4 years back. I have a list of similar experiences though they differ a bit. There, I do not get a bang from Almighty but very prompt signs of his blessings, in different ways. I feel happy to share with you all, that till date my every single wish has been granted. I always have got more than my deserving.

It’s not about visiting temple every day or offering prayers. I remember, many of my correct demands, made while brushing my teeth’s, were equally considered for grant.
After listening to my experiences, you can call me a “Religious person”. But please do not give me this title by saying that I visit temple and follow rituals. Please believe me, I never do so!!

As per me religion is nothing but a manual (a set of instructions) written by man to reach God.

Have you ever realized why no religion in this world, if I say no it means an “absolute no”, has a religion book or holy book written by GOD himself? All of them are written by Satguru’s or by highly religious pure souls.
But why any GOD of any religion did not think of writing down its philosophy? Answer is straightforward he knew that written statements can be easily misinterpreted!! And that is exactly what is happening.

So in this way I am not religious. I do not follow any scripts.

In my dictionary Religion is:

“ Religion is the banana skin,whereas Spirituality is the banana itself. Religion is important and can take you up to a point in your evolution. After that for Religion to make sense, you will need to get to the core of Religion which is Spirituality. I like to say, Spirituality is what Religion wants to be when it grows up!”

But many of us have more faith in worldly scripts written by pundits, astrologers and other society people. We don’t have faith in our deeds, our sensible attitude, our courage to trust own spirit (Which is actually our God) that’s why we fail to realize our own judgment and accept other people’s sayings.

Uff! really very very sorry. I again, as per my habit; drifted away from the topic of concern.

Hardly matter’s, you will come to know few more things. :-)

Well, earlier I was hesitating to share it publicly as I am a bit introvert person. I do not wish people to interfere and do postmortem of the incidences happened with me. I do not like to debate on the perspectives and the meanings which I conclude from a particular happening, though I am equally open for suggestions but definitely not in every case.

If this is the case then why am I disclosing it openly? Let me tell you why?

Last Sunday, I went to Shimla to meet my friends and refresh some nostalgic moments. I decided to visit Mata’s temple but this time with a difference in my intention. It was almost 2 pm when I was waiting for bus in Shoghi and I was empty stomach that too voluntarily. After taking the blessings, I was so much happy that I decided to share my happiness with each one of you.

So, it’s my happiness which I am sharing with you and not the incidence only.


Note: I did both my B.Tech and M.Tech from Shimla.

The Dilemma

The Situation: You face a difficult decision; you can't make up your mind. A sacrifice is called for one way or the other, and this sacrifice is too great. So you remain hesitant. That's the heart of the matter. You try in vain to make your world function properly but things are beyond your control. The world doesn't respond to your efforts anymore; chaos seems to compile against you. Others are causing your world to be surrounded by walls, causing confusion. Your words don't explain what you want to say.

The Problem: You are tricking yourself. You deceive yourself and project the self-deception onto someone else, creating a self fulfilling prophesy by “forcing”. This person to betray you. It is difficult to see yourself in this mirror, but the longer you try to avoid your reflection, the cloudier and more opaque it will become. Your path towards life involves too much “we” and too little of yourself.

The Solution: If you keep your wits about you and refuse to be depressed, you will manage to sail through this time with flying colors and be amazed at your strength of will when you have come out of the other end of the fog and retrospectively look back on how well you handled yourself and the dilemma you had faced. Endurance is the key to coping. Work on your inner-self. Spend time understanding the true you. Trust your instincts. Focus on making the correct steps and finding the right path for you. Your soul and your path should work in complete harmony. Allow peace, light and clarity to guide your way. But it will happen only when, when you will look within, cleanse, release, accept and move forward. Always trust your inner-self over society's beliefs. You have every answer within; you do not need to search it elsewhere. Judge it yourself. Involve yourself in justified acts only. Your dilemma is to opt out of the two paths. Be bold enough to choose the right path irrespective of the loop holes or the negatives. May be in start, the right path would not offer any treats to your head and heart but in the end you yourself will realize that you have got what you wanted. If you gather courage to follow your inner-say and perform the righteous act and make yourself immune to the temptations and false advices of the surrounding authority, in near future you will realize that your path of development has given you wings and you didn't even notice it. Now it is the time for you to fly!! Spring time, Laughter, Power, Love is waiting for you. It's very simple if you do right you will get right but irony is we get deflected very easily from the right path and for sure right path doesn't hold temptations in between but at the end you are definite to experience the fruit from nature which was invisible before. So, Do Right to Make it Right and thus to Get Right!!

Note: I never failed on this theory. Whenever I applied it, I have won over the circumstances. Though it seems very philosophical and outdated in the present scenario but it has always helped.I am not sure it will help you in same way or not? But give it a try!! (If you do not wish to take it from me then learn something from Vellai,Osul, Kelly & Chitrangada...hehehe....they also followed the same...realize your inner-strength, follow your inner-say and act right :-))

My Title

In school: Dancing Queen
In college: Dancing Diva
In office: Dancing Diva

I miss those dancing days :( Now life is on a serious track.

Chemistry & Me

I am the dumbest living person on earth in the field of Physics and Mathematics whereas in Chemistry I am (dumbest)2. huh...then what else is Left? Please do not forget our very own Biology :-) I am surely good at it, atleast I survive under this sway :-)

During my school, I was one of the favorite students of my Chemistry teacher, but obviously, in negative sense :-). In complete 9th and 10th standard I was an outstanding student......means I always used to stand out in all the chemistry classes with few of my other classmates who shared dumbness with me for the subject. We always used to fail in the mid term exam and the unit tests. But you see, we were definitely witty enough to survive in our finals :-). How? Umm...with a joint effort....a more of cheating+ a bit of self-studies+ a tint of luck...was the formula....

Guess, Strategy to escape at the concluding turn was well known to us :-)

My Chem teacher was in a habit of asking questions daily, before starting up his lectures. And for definite, I was the set and freeze target. He daily used to ask me a question and daily I used to fail answering it. And again daily he used to punish me and ask me to remain standing at the back of the class. So, this way my whole semester passed on.

Thankfully, he left school when I was promoted to 11th standard. And our very new Chem teacher was innocent enough to throw questions to poor students. Hence, my 11th and 12th standard got cleared in peace, without performing knee breaking exercises :-)

After my school, somehow I again managed to clear the chemistry section in my engineering entrance exam. To make a point, I am still struggling hard to find the answer of “how this somehow happened?”

Oh leave it! It happened and I cleared the paper also.

So finally I got admitted to Bioinformatics course.

In my Engineering, I suppose it was my 5th semester when this incident occurred. Our final practicals were running at that time. I was in the computer laboratory, busy in giving my Computational Biology practical exam.

All of a sudden, the moment arrived which was eagerly awaited. Hurray!! Our invigilator left the class for few minutes for certain personal urgent reason and on his behalf he asked a chap to invigilate. Chap?? Yes we all found him a chap only as he was not seen in faculty before. So we assumed that he was a visitor.

Definitely, this was the chance on which we all wanted to dance. And we danced also. Cheating pulses of our nerves got high. The flow rate of cheating was almost 5 queries/min. Everyone was busy in looking at other’s sheet as we had only 5-10minutes in hand. I too made a jump on the cheating mania dance floor to fish out the answers of my doubts. But the only difference between the cheating skills of others and mine was that I just became too loud. I stood on my seat and shouted “Shruti, what’s the answer of 3rd question’s fifth option?” Shruti was sitting in next bay. And above it, I asked her same question thrice because she was continuously ignoring me :-).To tell you Shruti and I were cheating mates. She never ditched me. But this time she ignored me because of my loudness and the concern of being caught red handed.

No worries! But Chap made a good note of my sincere cheating effort :-)

Thank God! By some way practical exams got over. And soon we ended up writing final exams and thus ended up with our semester.

Then our new semester started. We were happy to see ourselves in 6th semester. But happiness doesn’t stay for long term. This is the rule of Nature. Sorrow was knocking at the doorstep and I was allotted to welcome it.

Now Guess what? Atleast I never guessed it. That chap was our newly appointed teacher and that too for newly introduced subject in the course curriculum. And…….and the subject was “Chemoinformatics”. Wouuuuu. Band baje to aise baje ki bas banda naachta hee reh jaaye

Nothing worst has happened with me in my complete academic life than this.

I simply prayed if he had memory loss disorder. But I am not always granted with my wishes. He was a real sharp guy. I should better not use words like guy, chap for my teacher. But I am forced to use it as he was in his mid 20’s. For sure, he was good looking also. I still remember how females of our college were crazy for him.
Well, it was my first day in Chemoinformatics class and so was his. He smartly introduced himself to the class. Surely, that’s a different case that we all already knew him. Umm but for the first time we came to know his designation and mind you that it was a shock to our heart.

Further, he started up with his very first lecture. All of a sudden in the middle of his teachings his eyes rays fall on me and sarcastically pointed “O…. you are also in this class….hmm…..ok…” and carried on with his lecture.
Before proceeding further I would like to ask you “why only chemistry teachers are in the habit of asking questions daily?” Poor me! This chap also came out to be a true Chem teacher.

Aaah, What hell!……actually way to hell was about to start……it was just a trailer.

Daily, before starting up his lecture he used to revise the previous class lessons by making us draw the already taught structures in our notebooks.

Since I was a grown up child so was a bit sincere in comparison to school :-)

Therefore, at times I also used to draw structure and take my notebook for correction. But his reaction to my sincere effort was different. Every time while checking my notebook he used to pass a comment “What is there to check in it, it must be a copied one”. So this way he tortured me for almost the whole semester. Sometime with his comments and many a times by giving facial expressions.

Hmm! seriously it was his rubbish attitude. Leave it. Let me tell you more about his tortures

In his subject, we were supposed to submit the project report. It was my turn to submit it. Looking at me he said it again “It must have been copied”. Uff, this time my patience was over. That day I literally howled “Yes it is copied and since it is copied so I am not going to submit it. You can easily put zero.”

I turned my back and walked away.

After some time he called me back and ordered me to submit the project. I submitted it silently and left the faculty room.

Soon after this mishap with my Chem teacher, our final exams got started. We all wrote it and passed it!!

After exams, one day he called me up. For the first time I witnessed smile on his face while talking to me. He said “Shweta, I personally wanted to congratulate you. I am so very happy to see your score. You topped my subject with 48/50. I am proud of you and congrats once again.”

Please do not ask my reaction over it, in details. Sometimes I really wonder why I am so much full of attitude. I said nothing to him in response and walked away.

So, this was my last encounter with Chemistry.And to tell you, Chemoinformatics was not an easy subject. Out of strength of 35 students 13 got a back in it.

I literally pray that I should not encounter Chemistry in my professional career. Amen!!

Lucky Me---atleast for the day

Hurray!! I got a gift. When I reached office today, I was surprised to see a courier kept on my table. XYZ bank randomly selected me as a lucky customer in their current contest of "Customer of the Day" and gifted me a Digital Clock with Photo Frame. This was surely a very cool gift. But you know, thing is that yesterday only I walked to XYZ Bank; not to withdraw money but to ask to close my existing account with them. :-)

Note: Do not wish to disclose the bank's name. :-)

Ek aur Afsana

Note: My team (IP Team) is on bench from past 2 months. I have written few lines on this situation.

Hamari zindagi kuch iss tarah se taabah huee hai
Hamari zindagi kuch iss tarah se taabah huee hai
Ki abb to khairaat bhi daawat se lagti hai
Chut put projects aate hai, aate hai aur aake chale jaate hai
Abb dil ka kya haal sunayee hum; abb to purana kaam bhoolne ki hawa see lag gayee hai
Arey O manager saaheb! gar barbaad ho jaaye project to humko dosh naa dena
Humko dosh naa dena; kyunki iss tarah velle baithni se ye khata see ho gayee hai

Gamble

I was the champion in playing the game of destiny. I was so very perfect in showing up my cards at the right time. My aptitude was so powerful that even by getting the worst set of cards I was able to escape the “bad”. It was my practice only to stand the curse that I learnt my survival skills even after realizing that I am going to fail. I was never a looser. I have always strategized my play by checking out the psychology of the opponent. I was always the clear cut winner. This time I participated in the biggest tournament, happened to me till date. The most important play of my life. Earlier I used to stake my current situation, my career, and my emotions. But this time I Gambled "My Life". Let’s see who wins!!

Cruel Who???

Chitrangada bapte, a very innocent and poor girl lived in the district of Ahemadnagar, Maharastra. Year was 1930. Chitrangada used to earn her bread by selling hand made “diyas” outside the temple of “Sai Bhagwan”. She, from the very beginning, of her childhood has started earning. She started up her venture under a tree shelter where, diyas kept on the cotton cloth, were sold to the darshanbhilashi’s. By now, at the age of 18, she has achieved a great advancement in her business. Now she has got a small shop also.

Chitrangada was a well known face in mandir circumference. Her habit was to visit temple daily. Her nature was such that in her free time she loved to help panditji in cleaning the temple’s aagan. Many a times she has helped Maharaaj in preparing prasad for langar. She was beloved. Her dedication in serving the Almighty was known to everyone.

She was not only good in paying service to Lord but was able enough to manage her business. She always knew the strategy to attract customers with her honey dipped voice. Her cute and innocent smile has always been proved powerful in retrieving consumers. I would not disagree, if she has got a list of loyal regulars to her shop.
Nanasaheb Bhosle, was one such loyal purchaser. He was working at the post of teacher in “Navya peeth vidyalaya” and was also one of the members of the district’s panchayat. He was a great devotee. Daily, both in the morning and evening time, he used to come to temple to attend “Aarti”. He has always bought diyas from chitrangada. Since, he was visiting temple from past 10 years so he was quite aware of the Chitrangada’s sincerity and innocence.

One summer day, Nanasaheb pitched Chitrangada for his son. He kept a proposal of marrying his son Vallabh. Vallabh, after completion of his studies from Varanasi joined a company in Ahemadnagar as an accountant. He was one of the most eligible bachelor’s in the society. Many people eyed him but irony was this that Nanasaheb has already made his choice.

During winters, both Vallabh and Chitrangada got married. And they lived happily thereafter atleast till that day.
That day, Chitrangada was preparing food. She was alone in the house. Everyone was away for work. Don’t know how? Through stove, curtains of the windows caught fire and whole kitchen came under the influence of dark black clouds. Due to suffocation and panic situation Chitrangada fainted down on the floor. People from neighbor rushed to her house with water filled buckets and after struggling for half an hour somehow managed to calm down the fiery fire.

And...................... they started crying badly. By then, both her husband and father-in-law arrived to the spot.

“Today is Thursday; Chitrangada was a great devotee of Sai Bhagwan. It will be good for her soul if cremation ceremony can be done right now. Let’s carry her body and fire it up” said panditji.
Within no time, stage of sandalwood logs was arranged and her body was fired. All of a sudden, as they lighted her body, heavy rains started. And so everybody was forced to leave the ground.

What Next?

Before proceeding, I would like to remind all the readers again that please keep in mind that the story is of 1930. 

Therefore, try to understand the psychology and beliefs of the people.

Also, I would like to quote a line again to give you a hint: Due to suffocation and panic situation Chitrangada fainted down on the floor.

Yes, exactly this happened last day. And see, the love of Divine was such that tears from heaven traveled down to earth to correct mistake of her beloveds. All the fire cooled down.

Next day, early morning, Chitrangada came back to her senses

Further, Chitrangada, unaware of all the happenings took her way back to home.

It was early morning, around 4 am when she returned back. She was amazed to see crowd in her house at this odd hour. She screamed “What has happened?” “Why you all are crying?”

“Bhaggoooo!! .......Jai Hanuman gyan gun saagar...........”. Within no time house got emptied except a few people Vallabh, Nanasaheb and panditji.

“We know you died young. But all of us take birth in the laps of mother earth with a preplanned and fixed life span. We won’t be happy to see your spirit wandering for peace. We will undertake all the cremation ceremonies once again. We express our grief on the sudden rain and thus a hindrance in your funeral process. So, please go back and just give us time to do the needful” panditji chattered.

“What rubbish! I am sorry for my tone. But I am fed up seeing people looking at me in a strange manner. You all have misunderstood me. I am still alive. I just fainted away. Believe me. Vallabh, your sweets is alive. Please don’t cry. Nothing bad has happened, God just saved me for you.” uttered Chitrangada

“How is it possible? People faint away for few minutes or for few hours but not for whole night. See Chitrangada we all have already expressed our grief on not completing your funeral. Please do not play with us else we will be bound to take serious actions.” again pandit’s words roared in the building.

“Yes, even I agree. You are a soul and not the body. Please go away. I loved you. But for sure I loved alive Chitrangada and not the dead one. I request. Go!” Vallabh gathered his senses and busted out this way.

“Please give me some time. I can prove you that I am still alive. Please pay me opportunity.” Chitrangada pleaded

“We have seen all form of spirits but have never imagined that such a good soul will become so evil after death. Spirits have all the powers. You will use your magic to make us fool.” Pandit howled

Realizing that the situation has got worsen Chitrangada decided to leave.

In the evening, she got her opportunity. The one she was waiting for. Vallabh was alone.

“Vallabh, my sweetheart, please.......please.......please don’t run away. I beg you. Please listen to me. Don’t you get a feel that it’s me? Your Chitrangada. Don’t your eyes see the truth? Don’t you believe my words? Can you even think of that I will play a game with you? You promised me that you will never leave me. You promised me that you will always be there for me. You won’t harm me. Don’t you remember your promises? If you will support me I will be able to prove myself. I need your support. Please stand with me in front of panditji and father-in-law. I will definitely win the case if you are with me. It’s high time for us to prove our love. I am not asking you to go against society but if we make a joint effort to make our elders understand that this time they are a bit mistaken we won’t be doing any sin. Please live up to your promises. Your silence is killing me.” Chitrangada was literally covered with tears.

AAh! Nothing happened. Vallabh remained Silent and Stoned!!! And left.

I personally believe readers can easily feel the “tadap” of Chitrangada by reading her sentences only. I seriously wonder how Vallabh’s feelings didn’t turn up by listening to it.

That whole night Chitrangada wept. She turned almost into half-dead. What an irony!! Half-dead having being full alive!!

Meanwhile, at home Nanasaheb is visited by his friend and colleague Daman Rao.

“Nana, my friend, I know you are lying in the ocean of sadness. You are confused about the situation. I am here to pull you out of this grief. Do not worry your friend has come.” Daman confidently said.

Daman further added “Friend, our society has certain customs. They are not built overnight. Our pandit’s have given their life in gaining knowledge. Please try to understand that you yourself have lighted up her body. How can you even think of her being alive? This is just not possible. We have seen ups and down in our life. We know Life in Total. Kindly don’t allow that spirit to be with your son and spoil his life. Better you convince your son and ask him to marry again. My daughter Raina is very descent. You won’t get any complaint from her.”

Wow!! A friend in need is a friend in deed. Amazing! Readers please let me know the term that can be used for a friend who enchases his self-interest by using his friend’s misery.

Well tried Damanrao! A good try of doing brainwash, of a person who is already in dilemma.

Don’t worry readers we will see its after-effects soon.

Next day, Chitrangada caught Nanasaheb on way to temple. She knew his timings. She followed him.

From back she summoned “Father!”

“You came again” Nanasaheb stammered out of his sadness.

“See Chitrangada, we all feel sad for whatever has happened. We never expected the turn of events in such a way. We sincerely liked you. We all were so happy to have you in our family. But at the cost of my son I won’t be able to accept you. I am sorry. We all have wishes in our lives but every wish does not come true. Please leave us.”  he added.

“Father, you called me daughter. I never heard, you saying me daughter-in-law. I cannot even dream of bothering you. I know you are sad and cannot hold myself responsible to make you sadder. But situation is this that I am bound to speak. I have to raise my voice against the happenings. Please keep faith in Lord. I am not asking you to challenge the knowledge of panditji. Even I follow him. I am simply asking you to realize the truth. For sure Truth is never against anyone. Truth itself is so big that we all stand very small in front of it. Truth is God. I am surprised to see that an educated person like you believes in all this baseless stuff. You believe the words of panditji. You believe in the words of a man, in a man’s interpretation. But you don’t believe in God. You don’t believe in ultimate reality. Don’t you hear the sound of your spirit telling you constantly that you are doing wrong? I know, you are denying its voice and considering it as a noise. It means you are denying the words of God. As our only soul is the house of Lord. I touch your feet father please don’t ruin my life. Please listen and care for the truth. Do not act like a surgeon who becomes partial at the surgery of his own son. Please don’t keep your senses away.” Chitrangada fell down on Nanasaheb’s foot.

“I am sorry. I have seen the life. I just can’t take your suggestion” Nanasaheb walked away.

Uff!!! What a disaster? Dear readers please do let me know the skills to “Educate the Educated”.

I believe Chitrangada tried her best to convince a father, wearing the blind love for his son. Not his fault, people call it as “parenthood”. But I differ a bit. “Parenthood” in my view is the practice followed by “Mother Earth”. She is our true parent. She is so very impartial. She never seeks difference between rich and poor, good and bad, girl and boy. She provides each one of us with same rain, same sun, same moon, same trees, and same vegetation. She never distinguishes. She never changes. It’s we who divide things. It’s human only who changes his law as per his demands. It’s we who practice differentiation according to our benefit. I perfectly don’t believe that if a person, who is also a parent and claims parenthood can hurt the other parent. Obviously, Nanasaheb made a hurt to Chitrangada’s parents by asking her to leave their house. Is parenthood about understanding pain and hurt of your own child only?

Dejected and defeated Chitrangada finally goes to her Lord for help.

“Sai Baba, see what all is happening with me, with your daughter. I tried my best to convince people. I gave my best of facts to help them understand the real situation. I pleaded them, begged them. Whatever was possible I did all. I am a human I have certain limitation but you don’t have any. Today also I will sing the same song which I used to sing in your praise during my childhood: ‘’Sai mere Sai tere haath main hai jaadu ka paani’ O my Lord I request you to do mercy on me. I am left with nothing. I am helpless. I asked for help to every living thing. I called for angels, sun, moon, trees, cows, tulsi plant, birds, water, air, fire, sky. I summoned every possible thing which contributes to the essence of Life, every thing which seems to be living. But none turned up. Lastly, I came to you. I tried to stand my case in the high court of society but failed. Now I have come up to you, in the Supreme court, in search of ‘Nyaya’. You have to do justice with me. If even for a single time you liked my serving, I account you for that. Please give me back my Vallabh. You are my last hope. My survival is now in your hand. Baba, give them insight. Encounter them with reality. Show them my Love. Do whatever you wish to do, just make things fine. I am killed my Lord. Help me!” poor Chitrangada crashed at foots of the Lord’s stautue.”

Chitrangada was not allowed to step inside Ahmednagar as everyone considered her spirit.

Therefore, she started living on her own in the outskirts of village. She was simply passing her time in hope of return of Vallabh and Justice from God.

Days passed. Nothing happened. Situation was as it is. Besides, Vallabh and Raina started seeing each other.

And here pain of Chitrangada crossed the boundaries. Finally she decided.

She dropped a note to villagers. She asked all of them to come to cremation ground. In her letter, she mentioned and warned everyone that presence of each one of them is compulsory else the spirit will befall as a curse on the absentees.

That day, the decision making day, each and every villager came down to cremation ground. None was left. They all witnessed a stage of logs and Chitrangada sitting over it. Then, Chitrangada took the fire and lighted her body. Everyone got their answer.

She communicated so much. But no one understood it. It was her silence that made them understood everything.
After writing down emotions of Chitrangada I am left speechless and highly confused.

I ask for your help to make me come out of my confusion. Please help me to point out the cruelest person.

My options do not include panditji and Damanrao. Why? They were the root cause of Chitrangada’s death. Absolutely No. Society always tries to influence your thinking in one or the other way. Life always throws it tricks to confuse you. People always, intentionally or unintentionally try to empower their culture on you. These are few hard core facts of our existence. It happens with each one of us differently. Nothing new about it. It is us who have to prove our worth as a human in such confusing and emotional time.

Problem is we don’t use our senses completely. We hear them partially and rest partial knowledge we capture from society and friend’s. Then we look for the resultant which we get after adding up both the partials and we count it as good full answer. Nice multiplication, addition, subtraction of Life.

I do not mean that one should not take help from society and friend’s at the time of dilemma. After all, many minds are always better than one mind during problem solving strategy. Even I do it many a times. But here case is different. Emotions and relations are something which we have to finalize and decide on our own. This is because it is we only who directly understand the importance of the person in our life. The pain and happiness related to the relation is felt by us only and not by the third person. Like, if I say I love my wife. Will you be able to actually measure down her importance in my life and the depth of my Love for her? You won’t. Yes, you can easily understand my loving intention for her. But not the actual feel. Therefore, I suggest when it comes to your true and important relationships kindly ignore the society’s standards and the belief’s of your friend’s and family members. They can only see the cover of the candy but doesn’t know the taste of the candy. Hope it makes some sense.

Oh, I just realized that I drifted away from the topic of our concern. Who is crueler? So your options are:-

a)       Vallabh: who broke all the promises and dint turn up to help and support his wife?

b)      Nanasaheb: who was influenced and was carried away by the suggestions of panditji and damanrao

c)       God: in whose hands everything was there but dint wish to help the poor child. Who forgot all her goodness and her devotion?

d)      All of the above

Well, apart from that I give you one more option: Chitrangada: who was not at all practical. One of the idiots who believed in all the bookish knowledge. An innocent female who wasted her life for such stone hearted people who dint understood her pain.

Umm, in my view, definitely I won’t blame Chitrangada. In my language I call it as Love. She had many other options also to exploit. She could have gone to other village and could have married another guy. But she didn’t. Her love was irreplaceable. In true sense this is Love which has lost its meaning in today’s era completely.

Source: Inspired from one of the stories of Rabindranath Tagore. I watched this story on television in my childhood. Only a few traces were left in my mind. I tried to build them up. In originol it is a story of a widow who do not convince society by her words but by her act. Complete story is re-written with major changes. 

* I am sorry I forgot the exact term used in Medical Science, where a patient under trauma looses his senses for a longer period of time.Kindly let me know, if you come across it. Thanks!

Ek Koshish...........shaayari likhne ki!!

Iss hawa ka rukh badalte dekha hai maine
Logo ke rangat ko badalte dekha hai maine
Saathi ko bichadte dekha hai maine
Ek patthar hawa main tabiyat se uchalo to yaaron, kismat ko bhi badalte dekha hai maine

The Great Pilgrimage : From Here to Here

Note: This story is very close to my heart. How? Let it be a secret!!shhhhh!!!

“We had already met your so many demands, even by going against our “*mujma-a”. We only need *taa-lime-haqiqi and dua of our Holy Father to live our life. There is no use of sending a girl to madaris for taalim, when her destiny is to end up doing a homely job. We have to invest in your marriage also. In today’s era you won’t get a good husband without a heavy dowry. Moreover, Baghdad is quite far, we can’t take a risk of leaving you alone. You are grown up and world is not a very good place. After taking concern of each family member we have landed to a decision that it’s a nice time for you to marry and settle down. Usool Nusrat! this time you won’t be granted with your wishes!!”

The flash of the fear and fascination of the unknown almost swallowed Usool. Each and every word echoed almost thousand times in her ears. She stared the nearby stairs with an unidentified glance. She was neither dejected! Neither elated! She maintained the complete silence as if something is running at the back-stage of her conscious and it is not the right time to speak out her mind.

Her long black eyes seemed to be lost, lost in finding the destiny in the deep ocean of her thoughts. Her brownish-black hairs swept her face on and off resembling the puzzle of life. Her long and sleek fingers supported her chin and gave a platform to rest her heaviness. Her sigh revealed her shattering hopes. Everything seemed to be volcanic except her soul which pulled her back from giving up.

She was sitting silently, wrapped up in black shawl and trying hard to collect all her senses and to devise the solution to mold the situation in her favor. Physically Usool is neither tall nor a slender woman. She has a refined appearance and is conservative in dress most of the time. Gracious manner. She displays an air of unemotional responses. She cries in her sleep and little elsewhere.

So, this is Usool Nusrat, her friend’s used to call her Osul so we will also call her Osul only:-)

I feel, she was almost 17 when this situation arouse. They were looking for a boy. But she was not mentally prepared for marriage. She wanted to continue with her “taalim”. She got through many competitive exams. Hmm! Brains dude!! :-) She got a good call for her graduation in the capital city of Baghdad. O I seriously wish! If things were as easy as they appear.

Her family was a middle class family, living in the city of Najaf, Iraq. Her abbu, ammi, chachajaan, everyone in the house was a bit conservative. From the beginning itself they have lived in a town. That place was really small. Their society and culture didn’t seem to be very motivating about girl’s education. Her family had the similar record track of females.

O Yes! But Osul was a perfect revolutionist. Because of her *tahriqi attitude she somehow managed to undertake basic taalim. Obviously, not in free but had given a real tough fight at every step in convincing the members of her *ahlo-ayaal.

Poor Osul, like always this time also she faced a big “NO”. Her life was almost devoted in solving the riddle of Right, Sight and Life. “*Qu-wat” is the exact word which we can relate to her. She believed that there’s only one way to succeed in anything and that is to give everything. Put in your soul. Play your cards with *mun-fard and Allah’s grace is definite to come. She never had a faith in the term “destiny”. As per her destiny is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things. So, if things are not falling your way, just change your view. Guess, her taqat lied in her *zah-ni only.

If you can convince them logically and leave them unanswered, nobody will dare enough to repeat his “NO” and hopefully things will turn up from a “NO, NO” situation to a “YES, YES”. I know, she was a great strategist!!

After listening to the final word from her family she silently left the kamra. After, few minutes she came back with a bunch of newspapers. But the pile was of only one section of newspaper, the “shehnai” section.

She asked her parents, her chachajaan to point out atleast one advertisement in the matrimony where a well-established, professionally learned groom wish to marry only an Inter class passed female. To their surprises, all the Engineers, Doctors demanded a graduated life partner.

“I know, I am young and world is not a descent place to survive on own but don’t you have faith on your taleem? Don’t you hold the faith in the tahzeeb taught to me by you only? I know, you won’t allow further studies but please answer me why your colleagues allow their daughter to study far. Do you really think that they are insane? I am ready to marry at this stage but do you actually think that I will get a well established guy, who will respect my individuality. Moreover, I do not even understand the meaning of the proposed relationship; do you find that I will be able to do justice to the relation? If every answer is yes, I am ready to marry, because then it will make sense”.

She said it hesitantly.

And for sure, there were no answer to her questions. After all, right things said in a right way always hold a power to grant you with your Rights!

Her actual power lied not in the framed speech and facts presented by her but in the courage which she gathered. She dared to speak against the views of her elders. She gave a perfect example of intellect and valor. Guess, she was born not to get influenced but to influence others!!

Life is a dream, realize it! The way to happiness is in your power, as you only hold the choice to choose and point out the way!! Osul truly followed it.

Also, an Idea can change your life, goes completely with this incident as Osul, from the meharbaani and reham of the Allah did really well in her academics. She got a job also. But later she resigned from it, after having been realized that she has to do something great. Something which can be useful to society. Now she is working as a columnist of a newspaper, through her articles she raises the agenda which seeks attention at an individual perspective. Besides, she is a District Magistrate. She decided to give the Public Service Commission exam. Her interest was to hold authority and power, where she can exercise control and pass some rules and regulations. In her term, she emphasized on girl’s education.

In her late 20’s she got engaged with Aajzi Tauqheer. Osul: principles and Aajzi: modest. What a combination of names. :-)

Purposely, I would like to share Aajzi’s view for his sharike-hayat.

Osul, I see a girl in you who had some eyes through which we could read her sincerity and simplicity towards life, a girl who had a face that can just help one to feel relaxed and happy as only peace and joy was spread from it, a girl that has a way to express that makes you feel unique in a way but in the same time that shares very deep and philosophical thoughts with so much of simplicity, a girl that is courageous, though life wanted her to be a fighter, she became a fighter as her goal is to achieve perfection. Perfection is a word that is nearly synonym with her name, a girl that fights for truth, sincerity, honesty and who only shares her pure feelings, a girl that is very modest even she has became a so important woman in so many different ways. Now many young girls will be allowed to get some knowledge. You are simply a complete woman.

Impressive thoughts! I purposely included these lines. The speech speaks volumes about the respect which she has gained from the society by making her individual stand.

She always said “Originated from Nature, discovered by Me”


*mujma-a : group, *taa-lime-haqiqi : Divine knowledge, *tahriqi : revolution, *ahlo-ayaal : family , *Qu-wat : strength, *mun-fard : intellect, *zah-ni : talent
Acknowledgement: Special thanks to Shabbir for providing me with some Urdu words

Just a Random Thought

 

Fight it back till last vibration of your atomic level; Hope for it till last sound (heartbeat) of your pacemaker; Strive for it beyond the limits of your vision. If demand is correct, hopefully it will be granted soon. Amen!