Falling in Love

         Life is beautiful. Sometimes the simplest thing in our life gives us the greatest pleasure. Since last few days I found myself falling in love. In love with a tiny friend. He accompanies me in my kitchen and not only decorates it but also makes it alive.   

         A tiny, beautiful plant of carrot. Around 15 days ago, when I prepared salad for dinner I had some left over part of carrot which I usually dump in dustbin. But that day it reminded me of my grandmother. She used place those leftover in a plate full of water. After some days that small round part of carrot sprouts and develops in a beautiful plant. She used to keep 4-5 stems in a plate and when it blossoms it looks awesome. It was a bit unbelievable to have a carrot plant without soil and sun. But I decided to experiment that trick.

         I kept that round stem of carrot in a bowl full of water. Every day I keep on changing its water, every day as I wake up I go to the kitchen and check for the plant. Those starting 4-5 days were upsetting, because I wasn’t get to see any sign of life in that small bowl. I doubted myself…Am I missing something? Does it require soil and sun rays to grow? But how my granny managed to get wonderful carrot plants without soil and sun? That day passed with all confusion and thinking. But next day when I went to see it, my eyes remained wide open. Within a second I was fully awaken as I saw a small sprout to that carrot stem. It was the happiest moment. I took that bowl in hand and was staring it for few minutes. I was so happy.

       It has been a habit now, as I wake up I go in the kitchen, near window, I look for my tiny friend, the plant, then I change the water from the bowl. Even I started putting the purified Aquaguard water, after watching the Madhuri Dixit’s Aquaguard advertise. I have many other plants in my balcony, I am attached with all of them. But this small carrot plant makes me feel different, may be because I spend more time with it. Every day when I see it growing, having more leaves than yesterday, its beautiful color; I feel something inside me. I feel the Peace, I feel the Happiness, I feel life is so beautiful. It does not always require glorious things. Just be patient, look around, there are many things we should be grateful for which we get for free. Be kind, be happy :) 

Here are some snaps of my Mr. Carrot. Isn't it beautiful?:

Expiry Date

'Expiry Date'...What comes in your mind when you hear the word 'Expiry Date'?... ‘The End’, 'Dangerous', 'Useless'.... Expiry date is an indication of decline in the quality or effectiveness. We have always been told to check the expiry date of medicines, food products, cosmetics, etc otherwise it would be harmful.  

Everything has an expiry date. We decide expiry date of every product. But who decides our expiry date? That's a very mysterious question. What exactly happens on that particular moment of expiry, which turns entire useful thing to useless? We dump the expired things, and same happens with living beings. Though they have been very lovable, beautiful, kind or helpful; their expiry leads to their devastation. When someone dies young, people cry wholeheartedly. Because their expiry date was unexpected. On the other hand, no one regrets when someone dies in old age. Same thing happens to both but in different age, and that changes all reactions. 

            Today when I reached office around 9 AM, I came to know that a colleague in the office who used sit next to our bay was hospitalized while coming to office. He was sleeping on the last seat of bus. Someone noticed he was unconscious. The people from the bus tried to wake him up, but he wasn’t responding. They immediately took him to hospital. We all were worried with that news and was just praying for him. But within half hour the bad news of his death confirmed. The whole floor was in shock with this unexpected news. I never talked with that guy, but he was familiar one, had seen him almost every day in office. That unexpected death of him melted my heart and again the train of thoughts started in my mind.

'Death' is the only ultimate truth of life. Few months ago when I visited my home town I realized this most. I was there for a week, but from the 1st day there I came across number of news about someone's death, accident, illness. I was shocked with the news of a close cousin sister's death. She died in a railway accident in Mumbai. It was very much horrific to listen those accident details. She was in her 50s. Unpredictable cruel Death...

            On the contrary side I have a grand-mother-in-law who is in her 90s, she is very much ill, literally waiting for her death since last 6 months. She was very serious 2 days before, but now she is fine. Behindhand Death...

            I visited almost 6 persons who are very sick or better to say on the death-bed after going there. Then again another news... a girl from my sister's college died, on 26th May, in an accident . She was in her 3rd year engineering, only daughter of her mother. And her father died on the same date, 26th May, 12 years ago in an accident. Coincidence of Death...

           Before I never thought about death like this. I never realized she is on the way for me too. I would never know when I will lose everything, which I am assuming is mine, within a fraction of seconds due to my death...beauty, money, relatives, love, home, clothes, jewelry, senses, EVERYTHING... is just nothing in front of her. 

         'Death' is only ultimate truth of life. So live your life fullest, don't stuck or become upset of losing something. At the end that something will be nothing. The only thing you have in hand right now is your ‘Present’... It’s very precious, hence called as ‘Present’=’Gift’. So friend, just stop worrying much about future and stop dwelling on unpleasant moments from past. Be here, in present, Be Happy... Kal Kisne Dekha...

Inner Voice

Hello Beautiful Soul….How are you doing?

Today I want you to be happy, Right here , Right now. I want you to dump all the clutter from your life and mind.

You might be thinking what I am talking about, why being serious. But I just want to tell you that ‘You are Beautiful, You are Wonderful and absolutely Perfect. You don’t need anything/anyone to make you happy’. A close friend of mine was fighting with depression because of the breakup of a serious relationship. I had been witnessed her bad time, her emotional break outs and also seen her being stronger through all those ups and downs. She is not the same person anymore, she has grown stronger, she has healed with time. We human being are emotional creatures. More or less each of us has an emotional side. We cannot control many things in life, but we can change our attitude to be happy.   

So here I am sharing some facts for finding happiness within us:

 Talk with yourself as much as possible.Nobody knows you better than yourself. You will be more positive.

·          Analyze your thoughts. Be aware what you think, what you talk with yourself.

·         Nobody or nothing in the world can hurt you unless you give them that power. You are very strong. You can survive anything, you can overcome any breakouts. Just be loyal with yourself.

·        Analyze people around you, how they treat you. Does they really care about you. Does they make you feel low, or hurt you often? If yes let them go. Don’t worry about them. Destroy them from your life and mind.

·          

You have a very powerful ability of choosing one thought over the other. You can check if your current thought gives you pain. If so, immediately stop dwelling over that thought and smartly start thinking about something which actually gives you happiness. It sounds difficult, but once you start doing this you will find it very magical. You will find yourself being happy all the time.

·         You cannot change people or situations. It will be always same, but you can change your outlook about it. You can choose to ignore it in order to stop being hurt.

·         If you find something bothering you, just stop being serious and start thinking about it in a funny way. Just chill. Nothing matters at the end.

·         Learn from your mistakes. If you are getting hurt multiple times due to the same reason, beware, it’s time to let it go and move on. You can’t help but ignore and stop expecting.

·         Think like everything, every relation comes with an expiry date. Whenever you find things not going well, conclude that it has come to its expiry. And like we throw out the expired items, throw that thing or person or relation out of your mind. Just go on without any expectations and regrets.

·         Promise yourself that you will not let you hurt because of others who don’t even care about your feelings, who just takes benefits of you. Don’t you ever give them another chance. Not only because they are not worth of it, but because you are worth having peace and happiness.

·         Be happy and calm. You already have more than enough to live a happy life. Just appreciate what you have.

·         Life is beautiful. Live it fullest.

Some wonderful Hacks:

Whenever you find yourself being sad, depressed, try this trick. Put a pen or pencil in your muth as shown in below picture. It will help you feel better.

Try following Affirmations:

Ø  I am Happiness.

Ø  Nobody can make me happy but Me.

Ø  I don’t need anyone’s approvals or help to be happy.

Ø  I am just Happy, right here, right now, without anything…I am Happy.

Ø  I am Complete self.

 Stay Happy...Stay Blessed  :)

This too will pass soon...

     Life is very unpredictable. I always believed life is beautiful. It is but some times we have to face situations which we have never thought about.
     I don't know if the hell exists in real or not but for sure my current situation is not less than hell. Few days ago I met with an accident. A small accident, which led me to a hell of physical and mental pain. I never imagined myself in such a painful situation.
      I was at my home town for Ganpati vacation with a long to-do list. On 26th August, in the morning I was driving a two wheeler with my younger brother on back side. We were going to a place nearby my town. There was a big turn with some crowd of people going to their farm. Suddenly a truck came from front side in speed, which was very unexpected to me. The road was small and there were few people at some distance and that truck on the other side. I pressed both breaks in fear and the vehicle slipped. I don't remember what happened next. There was all darkness in front of my eyes. When I opened my eyes I was lying on a side of road. My right leg was twisted under the vehicle. I cried aloud in pain. All I can see was blood on the road, blood coming from my leg....My blood...my sight was getting blurred. I was only able to heard my brother calling my name in tense, some more noise. I could feel crowd around me. Within few seconds I felt my whole body became unconscious, all senses were gone.
      In that accident my right leg is fractured and few painful wounds on right leg & hand. The wounds will heal in few days, but due to the fracture at ankle, doctor has advised 5 weeks bed rest. Which means I am unable to walk, to do any work, to go to the office and the worst one is I always need someone to help me for my own work. It sucks to sit at one place, look at others busy in their work, to have sympathy.
        I came back to Pune with my in-laws and 2 years old daughter. Everyone at my town was advising to stay with mother, it would be good for you. I know it would have been good to stay with my mother and sister, but my main reason of coming here will make you laugh. I came here for commode. Its not funny. After being disable with one leg I faced many difficulties. And the worst one was to go to an Indian style toilet which was little far from my home at town. And the way was full of clay due to rain. I was helpless even with the walker. More to this was those long steps, I started hating typical construction style of toilets at village. It was better to stay hungry, to say no to the delicious food made by mother, Puran-poli, Thalipith, kheer-modak. I know it was very disappointing to her but she understands me.
     Before I never had idea that a healthy body is such a great pleasure. I never realised before that I am so blessed that I can walk, I can see, I can speak, I can listen without any difficulty and many more simple things to be grateful for. We don't value things until we loose them. Like every other human being I had my own list of things I wanted. But now I realised this list will never end and in the rush of getting them I ignored to appreciate the precious things I already have. Now I know I have to recover soon. I want to walk like before, to dance with my daughter, to be independent, nothing is valuable than this. I can see myself standing on my feet, living a normal life as before. For the current pain I have only hope, that this too will pass soon. Just need some patience. But what about those who don't have this hope? Those who are surviving with permanent damages. How does they keep surviving, with which hope?

जीवन

A new addition to my poetry: 

जीवन तर एक कोड आहे, आपण फक्त जगत राहतो

दिवसाची रात्र अन रात्रीचा दिवस होतो, 

कधी मोठे होणार म्हणत बालपण सगळं सरून जात

मला परत लहान व्हायचं आहे म्हणत, आपण स्वप्नांसाठी जगत राहतो

पाळण्यात खेळणारी पावले,कधी घरभर नाचू लागतात

अन बोबडे बोल प्रश्नांची बरसात करून हैरान करतात

तेव्हा मुले केवढयात मोठी झाली म्हणत, आपण कौतुकाने जगत राहतो

रोजची धावपळ अन टेन्शन मुळे जीव नको नकोसा होतो

पण अचानक कधी आरशात पाहताना जेव्हा एक पांढरा केस दिसतो

तेव्हा अजून माझं वयच काय, म्हणत आपण चिर तरुणासारखं जगत राहतो

किती उन्हाळे पावसाळे पहिले, तरी जीवनाच कोड काही उलगत नाही

किती प्रश्न अनुत्तरी राहीले तरी, जीवन काही थांबत नाही

जे हवं ते नाही मिळालं तरी तडजोड करत आपण कसंतरी जगत राहतो

एकट्यानेच यायचे अन एकटेच जायचे, तरी मोहाच्या पाशात गुंतत राहतो

कशाला जगायचं म्हणणारा जीव मृत्यूची खंत करू लागतो

मरणाची खात्री असते, तरी आपण माञ सगळं माझं माझं म्हणत जगत राहतो

जीवन तर एक कोड आहे, आपण फक्त जगत राहतो

Being Vegetarian... A Struggle…

Being Vegetarian is of course a choice, but not for me. L  It has been a struggle for me since the day I choose to be a Vegetarian. I belong to a Marathi family who is damn non-vegetarian. They want non-veg at least once in a week. I was also non-vegetarian till I came across that insane incident which turned me to be a vegetarian for lifetime.

                I was just 5 years old. When I used to go my pre-school, which was about 15 minutes from my home by walk. There was a mutton shop on the way to my school. I had never noticed it before the day I saw a cute baby goat in front of that shop. That goat was complete white with only one or two black spots on its neck. It was tied to a bar with rope, was enjoying some grass. I found it very attractive and wanted to play with it right now. But I didn’t as I have to go to school. Every time I cross that shop I was getting slow to watch that cute goat. After 3-4 days when I was just passing by the shop, I saw that heart breaking incident. I heard its desperate voice. Two guys were carrying it to a wooden part. I was just frozen, unable to figure out what’s going on. I was very much scared. And then I saw they put a big knife on that innocent animal and cut it into pieces very cruelly. My vision blurred with tears to saw that innocent creature laying down in the blood. I was shocked, unable to speak a word. My school bag and water bottle fell down, which I didn’t notice. I ran back to home with all my energy while crying aloud. I hugged my grandma still sobbing and crying. Everyone at home was worried what happened to me to behave like that. After some time I told them what I seen. They tried making me comfortable. But I was just unable to forget it. That day I had high fiver. I skipped school for next two days, but after that when I had to go I didn’t dare to look at that place.

After that incident whenever I see non-veg, it reminds me of that cute innocent goat. It was enough for me to stop eating non-veg. My mother and father tried a lot to make me eat non-veg in every possible way, but I was firm. I was too small to take such a decision but somewhere in my heart I did know I just can’t do this. My parents were worried with a thought that being vegetarian will be difficult for me as I am a girl and I have to go to other’s family after marriage. And in our Maratha society especially in village area it is very common to eat non-veg, in fact you hardly found any vegetarian like me. So they tried to convince me even forced me for some years, but I won every time. It was very difficult for me to be vegetarian where I was surrounded by all non-vegetarians, some time I even skipped my meals. And now they all give up on me. For the goodness my two younger sisters also turned vegetarian. Don’t blame me; I never forced them, not any brain wash games. It just happened; they choose to follow their elder sister. May be some positivity worked. I really don’t believe to force someone to choose what they should eat and what not. It’s a personal choice.   

Again this struggle was not ended somehow. When I was about to marry, someone from my in-law’s side told me, at least I have to learn to cook non-veg. I was quite sure I won’t do that. So I decided to call my to-be husband, Prashant, and told him that it’s impossible for me to cook non-veg, better we don’t get marry. He just said, “Don’t worry; you need not to do that”. After our marriage my husband also stopped eating non-veg. Trust me, I never told him so. Again may be that positivity kind of thing worked for me. Even it is difficult for me to keep my daughter away from non-veg. I want to make this choice for her, until she becomes mature enough to take her decisions. Although they blame me that I am not giving required nutrition to my child.    

      But for my bad… recently my husband detected with type 2 diabetes. He affected with nerve damage so severe that he could hardly manage to walk continuously. He needs Vitamin B to recover. Of course the tablets and injections are there. But my in-laws think he needs to eat non-veg to get that vitamin B. I know they must be blaming me for making their son a vegetarian and weak as per their perspective. Why the hell only non-veg food has to be a major source of vitamin B.  

   Someone told that fried Bengan (Bringal) chips tastes like machhi (Fish). It is strange to know how two different things which taste very much same works differently. Machhi is good for a diabetes patient being a source of Vitamin B. They need Vitamin B to recover from the nerve damage due to high level of sugar. On the other side bengan it strictly avoided in their diet. I thought it would have been great if the both have the same vitamin type of stuff similar as well along with the taste. It would have helped me in my struggle. As I know Prashant won’t eat non-veg and I am not that willing to let him to eat.

If I would be in a situation where I will die without eating non-veg, I think I would happily die. But when it is about your loved one’s health you become weak at your determinations and perceptions. So I am… A confused human being…

 

Music

That morning, I was in a hurry to catch the office bus as usual. I leave at 8 AM and it takes me almost 1:15 hr to reach the office. That 1:15 hr time period is very wonderful, because I get to spend a lot of time with myself. I always prefer to sit beside the window seat from where I can look outside… the morning chaos mixed with the beauty of nature as the bus route is from small villages like, Chande, Nande, Mangao, near Hinjewadi area of Pune.

That day I found myself mumbling a tune, something like….’Pehla nasha…pehla khumar….’ Wow, what a lovely song, I thought and continued enjoying it with my closed eyes. As I reached to office I headed towards the washroom to get ready as every other woman employee does. It is an observation that almost 98% girls in the office have this daily routine. Girls bother more about their looks than boys. you will always find lots of make-up stuff in their purse, on the other hand any boy would hardly carry a comb. This is the universal difference between the two species. We were about 6-7 girls in that room, every one of us had occupied some part of mirror. Some were combing their hair; some were applying lipstick, powder. This is the best place and time when girls from different projects interact with each other, have a great g-talk about shopping, make-up, cooking and many more.

While looking into the mirror again I found myself mumbling the same song….la la lalaa … Uff…Stop..with an awareness I started thinking how come this song has grabbed my mind? I am mumbling it since morning unknowingly. It is magical. I didn't remember where I heard that song, but it was continually waving in my mind. And suddenly Veena, the girl next to me started singing the same song unknowing to her as well. The tune which I was singing some time before grabbed her mind too without her awareness.

With lot of thoughts in my mind I went to my desk. I was about to login my machine and again a sweet voice singing the same song stopped me. I was stunned. I turned back. It was Priyanka, my teammate who has the desk next to mine. She was busy arranging her desk but unaware of what she was singing. Now I was very much eager to know where I heard that song. A flash back started in front of my eyes since morning. Within few minutes I memorized, I heard that song while preparing chapaties in the morning. It was playing on the television at my home.  I was too busy while cooking; physically I was in the kitchen, busy while cooking, but still that music lyrics grabbed my subconscious mind, which I not even realized. It was absolutely amazing how it flows. Same thing happened with Veena and Priyanka.

I was smiling with those thoughts and at the same time Priyanka gave me a strange look. With a clause “Why are you laughing at me?” I replied “You are a good singer dear and nice song too” Then she realized that she was singing. I turned back to my machine by letting her think about how that song grabbed her mind J

          I found it very magical, that how a music or any song comes in our mind without much attention we continue singing it. Music is a blessing. It makes wonder, it changes moods, even it has great healing ability. I love to sing for my daughter. While sleeping everyday she demands me to sing something for her. Nowadays she also sings along with me. She remember the lories I sing. It is the best time I spend with her.