The sea and the rocks

Salty winds in my hair....and sun in my eyes....
Hopping on the rocks...as I walk towards the sea... I have the exhilarated feeling of freedom and carefreeness..that only nature can cause...
The feeling that makes you forget the heavy traffic, the noise pollution, the humidity that makes your clothes cling to you and the numerous tensions that you have in your mind!
The raging waves act as a balm on your nerves....and the still grey water revive your energies...
For the first time I felt envious of Mumbaikars...who have easy access to the sea...and can come and enjoy this blessing of nature whenever they feel like...

Behind the scenes...

When you watch controversial events of the world unfold on TV, newspapers, and the websites...you wonder...what's actually going on behind the scenes?

Similarly, in our day-to-day lives...if we look deep enough...we can often witness a lot of "behind the scene" actions, thoughts, turmoil, and desperate situations....

Recently I came across a few situations that made me think of possibilities that might be...

- A married couple having dinner at a posh restaurant...clearly with nothing to say to one another...after having discussed the menu and placed the order.

- An over enthusiastic domestic help lying after being caught red-handed while smuggling food for her children.

- A friend insisting on accompanying another for shopping on a weekend...while leaving his family behind.

- A mother and daughter's planned vacation to another city.

- Planning a dinner date with a friend as soon as the spouse decides to go out of town.

- Preponing a resignation by two months.

- A supposedly happy visit by a cousin.

- Posting of photos and videos of political upheavals on Facebook.

- A heated discussion on "racism" over lunch between an Indian and a British colleague.

- A friend taking offence to an out-of-town trip invite by her boyfriend.

- A child's constant cries for attention resulting in a tight slap from her mother.

-A husband's unexpected show of affection and the look of surprise on the wife's face.

The reality of what is going on behind these scenes....is only known to the people involved...

But sometimes it really isn't that difficult to make a guess...and hit the nail on the butt!! :)

A singing session

Just had a nice singing session with a friend while driving back home...

Made me realize that how much we as kids...in school and college ...used to enjoy the Antakshri sessions!!!

During the summer vacations ...all of us...cousins, aunts, uncles.... used to gather at my grandparents huge house in a small city near Lucknow...and sleep under the stars in the big veranda....under the colorful mosquito nets...

Divided into two groups....while the elders used to sing Mohd. Rafi, Shamshad Begum, and Lata Mangeshkar...we the kids...used to burst into the latest songs of Mithun Da's movies....making the elders cringe at the lyrics...which as compared to the lyrics of today...sound almost Victorian now!

But really the days of IPODs, FMs, MP3 Players, songs playing on the cellphone are slowly...eroding the lovely time pass of olden days...

As the saying goes, technology has its pros and cons...Its in your hand ... how much of it should you consider enough....and how many things are you prepared to give up...

Compulsive liars!

What is it that makes some of us lie even when there is no need to?

I read somewhere that compulsive lying is a situation where a person keeps on lying with no reason or motivation.

Seems strange...but I am sure many of us have come across such people...

Some of them can be our own friends and acquaintances..who otherwise are normal and nice people....but can amaze, amuse and sometimes annoy you with this habit of theirs.

I am sure all of us lie or have lied many times in life...

I myself have utilized this negative trait mostly because of one of the following reasons:

- To save myself from embarrassment/threat/anger
- To save someone else from embarrassment/threat/anger
- To hide some facts that I didn't want disclosed
- To control the situation from getting out of hand

But when I come across people who lie easily because of no rhyme or reason...I am really surprised...why should you lie when there is no need to...especially when you know there is a strong chance that your lie will be found out???
Don't they think ...that their lies regarding an insignificant issue ...especially when something can be verified .... can actually belittle them in others eyes...and make others doubt their credibility?

Maybe it is really a disorder...and the person in question...needs help...

Love and Hate

They say until you fall in love...you don't know how its really like...

From my own experience, I would say until you hate someone...you don’t know what its really like!

Love has been described, talked about and eulogized since centuries…but what about hatred? Why have people not written much on hatred…a feeling much stronger than love…which if envelopes someone ...is really difficult to get rid of it!!

Recently, I am going through this awful, all-encompassing feeling…occupying major part of my heart and mind….! It is really strange but all my life…I have never encountered this feeling before! What I thought of as hatred at different points of my life …now seems so insignificant…in contrast with this feeling…

Trying very hard not to give way to this bitter feeling…which of course…leaves a real bad taste, not only in your mouth but also in the imprints of your mind…I am not being very successful….

So, I am repeating the following to myself:
• Forgive and Forget!
• Forgiving is divine!
• Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much!
• A wise man will make haste to forgive…!

But you only forgive when the other person is sorry or at least realizes his or her mistake…and tries not to repeat…but here I don’t see any such reactions…..there I go again…..can't get over this feeling…

Funny, how we think its very difficult to get over someone you LOVE...
Believe me...its far more difficult to get over a person you HATE!!