Stay Noble, Stay Blessed!

There is always at least one harsh critique associated with every concept. Never, can one find a universal acceptance of a particular issue. Even I have come up with an argument against the celebration of certain festivals in India. These include, Holi, Dussehra, Diwali and to some extent, Christmas. But basically it’s the way Diwali is celebrated or more appropriately, the way it is supposed to be “celebrated” that lays down the foundation of my following contentions.

Apart from being a fiesta of lights and joy (which almost every festival claims to spread in our lives), Diwali is also considered as one of the most apt time for family re-unions (at least this is the notion that I have been brought up with). To some extent, I agree. But most of the academic institutions and workplaces reject “The Re-union Theory” .  All they offer is a one-day holiday and hence, Har Diwali wo kisi ko khush nahi karte! My dad’s application for leave was firmly rejected and we, here in MH, shall be granted only one official holiday. Eventually one finds oneself trapped in a state of a terrible dilemma where one has to choose between one’s work and family. The festival of Diwali turns more or less into “shaadi ke laddoo” since, if you prefer work over your family, you miss family (because you are supposed to!) and if your family becomes a priority then you keep on thinking about your work (because you have to!) So, either ways, you turn out to be at a loss which is dire enough to reduce your efficiency as well as your stability.

Now let me pose the million dollar question- Does the gist of a festival remain alive only when we make merry with our family members? Well, my brother has been living abroad for over two years now and he hasn’t shown up in any of these festivals. He must be missing us all on these occasions; perhaps, he’s even used to them by now. But does he really find himself in a depressed state of mind? I am sure he doesn’t (as far as I know him). He acquires peace as long as his purpose of existence is served. For him, his work fetches him happiness, colors, light and all those stuff that these festivals assert to bring in our lives (or at least we expect them to!) There are millions like him on this planet and they do manage to manage themselves. Amidst the diversities of these gala event lies a common message- “Stay noble, stay blessed” This is my personal interpretation and as stated at the beginning of this article, is subjected to criticism! I say so because if we look closely at the history of the origin of these celebrations, we essentially find that the uprights triumph! Never would have Shri Ram thought that while people celebrate his victory all over the country, few houses would be covered under darkness and few juvenile eyes would be filled with tears because they DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH RICHES TO MATERIALIZE THE FESTIVAL! Enlightening your mind, your thoughts is way more essential than lightening your house.

This is gonna be the first time when I would be spending Diwali without my family and friends i.e. alone and I am not at all used to it. Guess, this is why I have come up with a different theory of my own. Perhaps, I needed to convince myself way more than others that I am certainly not at a loss if I choose work over spending the day with my family and won’t be tuning into “Here I feel so loooooonely” or “Lonely, I am Mr. Lonely” to aggravate my pain, if any! (Really man, some songs can turn you into a weeping fountain even if you don’t want to!) You may undergo a similar situation now or in the years to come. And when you do feel terrible about the thought of being alone on such an occasion, just remember two things…

1. Smile...because you should!
2. Stay noble, stay blessed!

IRONICALLY, these two articles on my blog may help you discover your latent righteousness. (Do not kill me if they don’t!)Moreover, a more promising idea is to furnish another concept of your own that satisfies at least one person in the world-YOU! This is applicable to almost every issue but make sure you are totally and virtuously assured by it and no other argument can change your mind. Live life not on the terms set by society but on your own stipulations. Stay noble, stay blessed!

10 Things you should NOT do when angry.

Albert Einstein said, "Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools." Well if that's the case, then the World is brimming with nincompoops! The internet is flooded with anger management tips. At times, I can get really cranky and in view of the fact that I am a terrible anger manager, such words of wisdom have no effect on me. For those of you falling in my category of people, I cannot suggest ways to control your fury but from my experience (and few others'), I can suggest few things that you should NEVER do when cross.

1.      Keep your mouth shut-  The more you speak in resentment, the more you tend to screw things up. Remember, the one who is wrong will speak the most and the worst. You need not settle the matter immediately. However, you must do it calmly later.

2.      Never leave a matter unsettled- When we lose our temper, we often come up with arguments that are related to some unresolved incidents that happened in the past. This struggle for proving oneself right simply makes the situation worse. Sorting out grudges is important provided the matter is big enough to be termed a 'grudge'. Learn to avoid little things (Nobody is perfect, not even you!) 

3.      Avoid mental abuses- Avoid abusing even in your thoughts. If you can think it, sooner or later, you can spill it out too! 

4.      Never stand in the vicinity of expensive and breakable stuff- This is the most important point and requires great care. Avoid holding cell phones, i-pods, tabs, laptops, net-books, etc. in your hands or keeping near your reach when irate. Your vexation may lead to a heavy financial loss apart from other repercussions.

5.      Avoid telephonic conversation- Eyeball to eyeball confrontation requires guts. Also, when speaking over phone, you cannot make out the tone of the person you are talking to accurately as you cannot eye his/her facial expressions. Thus, talking over phone often makes circumstances more crappy. 

6.      Never preserve the evidence- James Fallows said, "Always write angry letters to your enemies. Never mail them." Well my piece of advice is to erase any note written in anger, the question of mailing the same does not arise! Expressing your anger in a written form is not a bad idea but securing the same is insane. You never know when things begin to work out between you and the person concerned and in such a situation, the piece of crap that you wrote will simply reduce everything to rubble.

7.      Never stay alone- Avoid being a loner especially when you are heated. Talk to a friend, family member or even a stranger and express your emotions. If you feel like crying, cry!  Remember, nobody is MARD enough to lack any emotion. Moreover, this will help you avoid depending on drugs, cigarettes or alcohol.

8.      Never rely on drugs, cigarettes and alcohol- This is mainly an extension of the above point. If you have been drinking or smoking before now, it’s fine (by me; certainly, not good for your health though) But things go wrong when you START smoking/ drinking/ taking drugs because things slip out of your hand (including your anger.) It’s like investing on a scheme that gives satisfactory returns in the short-term ONLY.

9.      Never switch off your cell phone-  You may not wish to talk to anybody when you are fuming but others might try to contact you. And who knows, they may have something really good to share or something that requires your immediate attention and what not! A great personality has said(I don’t really know who; It’s a dialogue from some movie that my Dad passed on to me),”Jab insaan ka waqt kharab hota hai na, toh wo uut par bhi baitha ho toh bhi use kutta kaat leta hai” This argument may not be totally convincing but the heart of the matter is, you should not switch off your cell phone.

10.  Never become a slave of Pessimism- Never compare a present situation with an incident that took place in the past or assume anything for the future. Two state of affairs can be similar but not identical. So, be optimistic and just believe!

Everybody, at some point of time, feels that he cannot take it anymore. At this moment, anger is obvious as well as genuine. Anger is considered ‘bad’ because in 97% of the cases, it’s employed unconstructively. In my opinion, it’s not so unscrupulous if we focus on its productive maneuver. For instance, kick-boxing, gym, running, shooting and lots of others activities can make use of anger in an affirmative manner. Anger results in passion and once you get obsessed with something, nothing can stop you. Obsession, again, some may say, conveys a negative spirit. However, I would still say that it depends upon the way you bring it into play.

There's a simple rule that I follow in this regard. If the magnitude of the matter that makes you cranky is greater than the relationship you share with a person then let your anger out. On the contrary, if the issue is not big enough then do not let it overcome your bond with the person.

This article was basically an effort to share few details that you perhaps already know! I may have missed out on many more points. If you can come up with some more points, do share...

A wish come true...

Have you ever experienced a “wish-come-true” kind of a situation? As in, you spill some clauses of random thoughts out and suddenly, the following course of events seems to happen in sync with your thoughts. Well, it happened to me! I said something on a busy Sunday morning which altered the expected events of the next few weeks totally.

Day 1

On a Monday, one would usually find me wide awake and smiling at 10.30 am for Miss Namrata’s class. However, this was no monotonous Monday. At about this time, I was still in my bed, covered in 3 blankets. I had taken Crocin last night but my body temperature, instead of falling, had risen to 101F. I could not dare get off my bed as my roommate was still around. She could be a terror, you know! By evening, I had already consumed an antibiotic and a paracetamol. Still, no effect.

Day 2

My body temperature showed an increment of another  1F  today. I stayed back at home again and without anybody’s threats. My lappi and me lay beside each other for the entire day. None of us took advantage of the other! It was a rare event.  I could barely walk. I was too weak to even sit. Usually when I fall ill, I make it a point to share it with others through facebook or tweets. But this time, I received lesser sympathies in view of the fact that I could not perform a publicity stunt online. By 8.00 pm, I was hotter than Angelina Jolie and thus, needed a doctor.

Day 3

Last night, I was declared a victim of throat infection by Dr. G.S. Gupta (NEVER visit this fellow. More on this later). My body had stopped responding to any antibiotics. I was still down with fever, coughing all day long and extremely weak. I was hospitalized at NKS Hospital (NEVER refer to this hospital. More on this later). The blood suckers here took about 15 ml of blood from my body to conduct several tests. I kept praying for anything except Jaundice, Typhoid, Malaria, Dengue and Cholera. Any of these diseases reflects direct negligence of the patient and I did not wish to appear the same. The Einstein-looking fellow, Dr. Gupta diagnosed typhoid and I was treated for the same for the next two days.

I was supposed to travel back to my hometown in a train. But circumstances made me fly down to Bhubaneswar. I was about to travel in a flight for the first time in my life (YES!!) and I didn’t appear to look apt. With my out-of-shape and smelly hair (I had not washed my hair since one week), I looked hideous! Still, the journey was a delight. Wonders of Science! 

My Dad is a man of complete genius. I have never seen a man so prompt and so accurate. When I reached home, I was taken for a blood test again. And guess what, the reports were negative! All this time, I had been given injections and oral medications for Typhoid while I had nothing! Those blood suckers at NKS Hospital extracted 16,000 bucks (expenses on medicines additional) from me for absolutely nothing. I was their bakra and they had been making money out of me. Dr. Gupta, who is not at all worthy of being called a Doctor, threatened me that I would not get well if I take discharge from that  goddamn hospital.

Few years back, someone told me, “Har 24 ghante me 1 baar Maa Saraswati hamari vaani par viraajmaan hoti hain.” (Once in every 24 hours, Goddess Saraswati resides rests on our speech.) That is, on such an occasion, our mere words turn into a reality, irrespective of their positive or negative nature. A similar thing might have happened when I uttered these words on that Sunday morning, “It’s been a long time since I have been to a hospital.”