Moving with time

"Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old"

You do not age when your skin shrinks back and you have fine wrinkles on your face.
You age when you feel you have grown old.


This is for all those young ones who are now growing up faster than ever before. Look at the speed at which your life is moving. Time flies by and suddenly you realize you are out of school/ college and into the big bad world. If you ask me, I'd say run!

Run back to those times when life was fun. When life was all about love, laughter, wild parties, friends, fights, make ups and break ups. Not saying that you shirk away from responsibilities, just saying make sure you have enough memories pinned down so that 10 years down, when you look back, you see people around you, people who really cared. Trust me on this, nobody wants a decade long time gone by without a single happy memory to cherish.

The essence is to live life, not just let it pass by. A few years later when you are busy figuring out what went wrong and why is everyone around you suddenly a stranger, you will be left with no choice but to go back in time and realize, damn - i really deserve this.

When people you thought of as friends do not invite you to their weddings, when you have no one to call and catch up on a cup of coffee, when your achievements are not backed up with a pat on the back by a friend who had seen you go down a million times, and most horribly, when the contact list on your mobile phone and the numbers of friends you have on Facebook turn into just numbers and they mean nothing, that's when you know your time is up.

Moving with time is what you need. If you find yourself like this, down in that deep black hole, with no problem on the superficial but a tangled, gobble wobbly mess in the inside here is what you need to do

Play a loud track
Clean up your closet and living space
Bake a cake
Chat with a random stranger, maybe on a yahoo Chatroom (that's what I do)
Dress up to Flirt
Go out with someone - Any one - Cousin, Parents, People from work,  Dog
Buy expensive cosmetics (A must do for girls)
Post party pictures on Facebook (even if the evening wasn't that great)
Fool yourself into believing that this is good!

The point is to only bring back a tinge of social color in your life. Isolation is not the answer. The company is.
Find some company and never be alone. Do not make best friends, but friends who might not know all about you,  but enough to accompany you when you ask them out.

Life is too good to be wasted. Make plans, fail on them, make them again, laugh at your mistakes, prepare a time line for yourself, dream big, come up with a wish list of exotic places that you really wanna see. Do something! You'll feel great.

~ Greeshma

Haze in the Maze

"The Secret of Education lies in respecting the pupil."  
                                                    -  Ralph Waldo Emerson, An American Essayist, Lecturer and Poet


One of the reasons I chose teaching as my profession was the pleasure it gives me to interact with young inquisitive minds, some sharp and some not so sharp. Often I find myself sitting in the middle of the students with a textbook ignored, lying open next to me while I am lost in a world where many eyes look up to me with questions waiting to be answered. Silly questions, innocent questions, thoughtful questions, funny questions and more questions. And I find myself unable to go with the lesson plan because I cannot help but feel responsible to provide them the answers they are looking for. And like it happens with pupils of this age, most of them revolve around the big question, What next?

These days I find every student with too many options in his head to consider after +2, graduation and sometimes even after that. And they want all their answers there and then, which is where the problem starts. This post is not against any career counselor since I am myself one of them, but is against the unwritten rule which has been carved in the young minds since past few years that they need to have their career chalked out in front of them even before they understand the meaning of the words like SCIENCE, COMMERCE and ARTS. Sure teachers in schools shoulder the responsibility of explaining it to their pupils but the question is that how many of them succeed? My question is how do you expect to know what they want to be in future at a tender age when they are not even able to decipher or analyse the scope their chosen streams and the opportunities it provides?

Let me cite an example. A young student of not more than 17, just out of high school asked me if M.B.A is the right choice for him and I was stunned. Management these days is loosing its value and so are other professional courses because the students before time are forced or compelled by the peer groups to decide upon a career and start working for it. Little do they realize that the selection of a professional course should be done thoughtfully, with logical and rational reasons behind it and one must make the choice after due consideration to areas of interest, personal skills and subject matter of the course. This is where the education system fails because it induces the mind to follow and not think !!

My point is simple! All I am asking is, if the student needs time to decide on what to do in future, he should get it. Like I say,  'A safe decision which leaves your options open is always better than a wrong decision which closes all doors." Let us provide them the time, share with them the experiences, our anxieties and fears, mistakes too, tell them stories, and then let them be the judge. There is nothing wrong in not knowing NOW what you want to do in future. Education should make us think and make decisions rather than make us take decisions and then think for a life time.

Experiments with Life

My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my success and my talents. I lay them both at HIS feet."  - Mahatma Gandhi


Suddenly there is so much I want to do. So much I want to learn. So much I want to explore. I feel like I have entered the world as an infant and have been given a chance to live my life again, with resources at my disposal to use wisely. Learning at this age comes to a halt in general, with me it feels it has started again. And this time, its about what I want to learn, and not what others think is right for me to learn.

Learning that comes with a conscience and with a purpose is true learning. This is what I share with my students too. Go back to previous books and learn what you couldn't back then. Mathematical formulas, statistical tools and their applications in real world, scientific theories, historical facts everything has suddenly started making more sense to me than it ever did. Reading about people, gaining an insight to the most tumultuous of minds through which the world was shaped.

Sports was never my forte. But now, I have started enjoying Table tennis. It keeps you alert, in shape, sweating and always on your toes. Once my opponent or should I say my tutor and I were playing a match and it suddenly occurred to me, that apart from physical exercise, the game also teaches a lot more. Just like every other game, it demands concentration, but at the same time, it asks you to be cautious while applying force. Too much of it and you are out of the game. Little is just not enough for the ball to go on and the ball stops moving. Isn't it the same with relationships too ?

Swimming is relaxing, keeps me flexible, and fresh. I remember, the first day at the pool and the instructor screamed at me to jump in the pool and I did. Scary though it was, it taught me to fight against the water to survive and not give up. Of course I knew, I wouldn't drown in the pool with a depth of 4 feet. Peddling against the waters, I had this thought that its hard work and determination which keeps you going. These days, every little thing that I do, I can relate it with life. I am experimenting with life. Needless to say, the effects of chlorine on my hair and skin colour taught me nothing comes without a price.

I was never the adventurous types. Para Gliding cured me. Flying high in the sky I could see birds and tree tops. The mountains smiled and the sun peeked from behind welcome me into their world and I couldn't help but smile and feel glad at the decision of not chickening out at the last moment. But apart from the exhilaration and the rush of air in my lungs, it taught me that life is indeed beautiful and breathtakingly lovely, if only you change the way you see it. It's all about perception.

At times I am scared of the path that I have chosen, because it leads me alone to unknown places, to unknown people and reminds me how truly alone I am in this quest to find myself. But the only consolation is that at the end of each day, I emerge a better person. And I am darned proud of it.

The Itches of the Riches

For an amateur like me, it is so very difficult to write a professional blog, and that too a philosophical one since the lines are blurred at the point where philosophy and personal experiences are at an equilibrium. But then I may be excused since firstly I am an academician and hence have the right to regale my personal experiences hoping they serve as lessons to a few and secondly, the philosophy of life emerges only when one has seen a lot and felt even more. However, I shall try not to attempt an autobiography out of this post, rather share a few experiences which have made me the person I am today.

I belong to a typical mediocre family, and have never had the privilege to live in a lavish kind of lifestyle. We never really struggled to make the ends meet, since my father made sure all our demands were taken care of, but at the same time, we were never taught to spend money in a careless fashion. During one of those rare moments, when my father and I had deep scholastic talks, my father, unknowingly implanted the seeds of perseverance to simple living and indifference to the riches in me. This helped me during the time in my life, when my friends were all from the opulent society. Spending time with them, gave me a glimpse into their world, and yes at once it made me wish for more than I had. I came back home, not the usual me and spend the whole night tossing and turning, thinking if there was a way we could be like them. Finally when it was morning, I went to my father, like a student goes to his teacher with a doubt. He asked me what was bothering me and I hesitated but told him the entire story. My father smiled and replied, " It is good to be ambitious, but you need to first learn to be worthy of having such ambitions. Your dreams will follow you." 

It took me years to understand what he meant. The day I graduated from college with a masters degree was the day my life took a 180 degree turn. I was not a liability to my parents anymore. Suddenly I could feel the burden on my shoulders and I began shaping up my life, following my father's footsteps. But where he worked to provide us a comfortable life, I started aiming big. Yet I remembered my father's words and little by little I managed to change the way things were done at home. The small contributions I made, were of course noticed by my father and I am here quite proud to say he was happy with me.

Life changed. Responsibilities started piling up, but the words still echo loud enough for me never to lose control and slip. Money or riches for me are now not only means to materialistic wealth and possessions but they are now my own ways of bringing smiles to the faces of the people I love. My grandmother's excitement at the supernatural phenomenon called microwavable popcorn, my brother's exuberance when I treat him to the most expensive fast food restaurant of the city, my mother's haughty smirk at the 4 seater dining table and my father's proud eyes when I offered to pay the electricity and telephone bills every month are the events which inspire me to work harder and achieve other greater ambitions.

I have now learned the art my father wanted me to learn. I now know that for one to be ambitious, he needs to be worthy of what he wants. Money is not for me the hyped MONEY and I am glad not to be a part of the rat race where everyone works for money. I say different. I work for Happiness and that makes all the difference !! I have my priorities set. I want to be happy, not rich and for me that is how it will be.

Spirituality, God and Religion

"For its an unknown torture to me that I am still so far from HIM. Who as I fully know, governs every breath of my life and  Whose offspring I am. I know that its the evil passions within that keep me so far away from Him and yet I cannot get away from them."  M.K. Gandhi

Spirituality, God and Religion are personal issues that one can relate with just oneself. They are potent and hence should be carefully used since its interpretation differs individually. When a child is born into a religion, he is directed by the people surrounding him towards the God they worship, and is led to the path of spirituality which is difficult for even the wisest of men to follow.

I wanted to understand what was all the hype about spirituality. For a mere commoner, spirituality is about seeking God. There are many ways through which one seeks his God.  What I find amazing is how completely opposite these ways are. The ancient Greek sexual ritual Heiros - Gamos and the act of celibacy, both promise you the glimpse of the divine power, and yet they both never fail to contradict each others principles and practices.  For some its meditation and isolation that leads to the almighty and for some its the not the solitude but the satisfaction of carrying out the responsibilities shouldered upon them in this mortal life to the end which allows them to meet their God. 


The three terms, Spirituality, God and Religion all spelled differently, defined differently yet somehow seem linked to me. And who said, they way all of them have been defined is the right definition. Because for me, Religion is not what my ancestors and yours defined and left for us to follow. The way I see it, no two people on this earth follow the same religion exactly. There are versions within versions, and this is because like I said, its all about how you interpret what your religion preaches. I am born a Hindu brahmin  and yet I do no criticize meat-eaters. I respect the right to chose how to live your own life. Hinduism as far as my knowledge goes is based entirely on the concept of Karma, and before I say anything ahead, I must tell you I am one of the sternest believers in Karma. Yet I cannot help but appreciate the beauty of virtues like repentance and submission to God which Christianity and Islam preach. To those who will read my blog, please note, that I nowhere consider my theories to be accurate and applicable to all. They are just concepts evolved out of my own observations and experiences. This is my truth. 


I wondered always, why is it then, if we all belong to unique religions,  do we seek solace under the umbrella of a single religion and call ourselves brothers? During my masters, I stumbled upon a theory of management, called Maslow's Hierarchy of needs which states that after a man fulfills his physiological needs and security needs, he craves for social needs. He needs love and belongingness. A place to go at the end of the day.  Does that infer that the reason we consider ourselves practicing or following a religion followed by our brothers is because we want to belong? Is that why we put up with some ideologies propounded by our respective religions we not exactly agree with? Again, this is not my way of challenging your relationship or your belief in your religion. This is just me, arguing with my own self, because no matter where I go, the truth hounds me like a wolf in a dark night and I have to give up and look into its eye and accept it. I have now come to terms that, like my theory goes, I am of my own religion though shamefully I admit, I belong to my people because the craving to belong is there in me like other men and women. 

The story of my experiments with truth

"The more I reflect and look back on the past, the more vividly do I feel my limitations." - M.K. Gandhi

A very warm welcome to my professional blog. The decision to stay back into academics was tough, but I am yet to regret it. Almost everybody who crosses my way, asks me the reason behind my chosen profession but they seldom understand when I tell them, "I wish to stay young all my life." The churning of brains, the vivacity, the stubborn streak, the youthful mistakes, the amazing ability to get back on the feet and start all over again, are among the long list of reasons which invoke the passion for teaching into me.

My first post in this blog is titled on the famous autobiography of M.K. Gandhi and I met him a few minutes back when I started reading his story of experiments with the truth. To be honest, although I have deep respect for the Mahatma, never ever did I get the opportunity to confront his philosophical ideologies which I think have already started transforming me, when I haven't even finished reading the introduction!

The blog Cipher's Sojourn is about a journey to decode the truth that lies hidden or layered in you. Only if you have the will and the determination, can you uncover the covered. I am set on this sojourn and I welcome you to join me !!

Regards,

Greeshma