Free yourself..

Most of the people living around us are great actors....man...., they really know how to bluff!!! The 1st and foremost thing I come across with people showing outer happiness is that they have bounded themselves with some unseen-unnoticed restrictions which knowingly or unknowingly they have subsided inside their minds.. Maybe that there is pressure of society or peers or self restrictions, but it's a fact that hiding one's desires or feelings or not finding out a way of being free, will give you nothing but a lonesome heart without colours and energy....ultimately leading to a deteriorating personality. The other thing is that, if you have subsided your inner feelings, it greatly effects body-mind-and-soul. When we are with our friends group, we mostly tend to think that if I said something weird about myself or any crazy opinion, what will they perceive about me..probably they will laugh it out for the rest of their lives and make fun of me. So to avoid that, we do not disclose ourselves fully to any group we belong to. We might have come across people saying, "This person has an other side of personality", but just because of over-conscious mind, people make others believe that we are normal-typical-average people with no high expectations when, otherwise, they might be real fun!! Also this second personality, is the real YOU.. which makes you different from the rest of the crowd and stand out.
If we really experiment the newness in ourselves, we will free ourselves from all stresses, lethargicness, body ache problems (to some extent, yes), emotional instability, anxiety, depression, and....the list is just endless.. So infinite problems....one solution! Live free, Love free and Don't worry about the consequences..this will make our lives more simple and we will start feeling good about ourselves :) 

Aaj phir unki yaad aayi...

Aaj phir unki yaad aayi...
jaise dheemi-dheemi si wo sardiyo ki dhuup..
Aaj phir wo lamho ne dil ke aangan me dastak di...
jaise wo pehli dhuup darwaaze se jhaankti-si ho..

kuch aisi yaadein jo kabhi hasaaya karti thi..
wo ab aankon me nami-si le aayi..
kuch chand lamho ke liye dil ke aashiyane me theheri thi..
aur phir ek hawaa ki tarah bin bataaye guzar-si gayi..

kuch aisi baatein jinko itni tabajjub nahi di thi kabhi..
wo baatein wapas yaad aayi..
aur ab lagta hai jaise kyu humne us pal ko sanjoya nahi kabhi...
jo ab sirf ek adhoori-si kahaani ban kar reh gayi...

2013... A challenging year...

As I pen down my memories of 2013, I find it hard how to start actually.. So it will be better to start chronologically.. ;)
The months of January and February were the few final months of my MBA final year, which means...verry hectic and a decisive factor of my future.. Had to clear trimester exams as well as hard preparations for getting placed in a good Job. But yes, since it was my last few months in hostel, so I also made it a point of not missing any moment to make my coming parting days most memorable..! I thank all my IMT friends who were just there for me...The month of February was a total vella month, wherein we partied, talked for hours, played Golf, did whatever crazy stuffs we could do.. (Akshar, Garima and me...and also some other IMT friends).
March: The day of convocation was coming close..close enough that we could not imagine how time flew just-like-that.. And ofcourse, I was placed in a nice event management company.. "Ultra Rich Weddings Pvt. Ltd.". So the whole month was packing my hostel room, getting my degree at the occasion with my parents proudly watching me receiving the degree, giving a final adieu to college, going back home and re-packing for my training in Ultra Rich Weddings at Ahmedabad!
The month of April was a mix emotions month... actually! I could not imagine ek saath itna sab kuch kese ho gaya.. I mean, my training started.. that too in a Strange city of Amedabad, which I found to be Hudd-Waala rocking place..and a place I wanna visit-and-revisit again and again... and the most dramatic scene of all..'News of Akshar and Garima getting married'.. It came to be the shock of my life which was throughout the April month.. (LOL..)..!
May, June, July, August were months of most hectic work as an Area Sales Manager of my company although I was simultaneously giving PSU exams too, but didn't get through any.. :( I gave almost 4-5 bank PO exams.. and no exam getting converted was a big turn off... Stressful time.. But I was doing my Job too.. So it was okay. I was learning how to live a life of a corporate woman which was fun as well as tiring.. New experiences coming every single day gave me new angles of dealing with things related to job.
September, October and November were months which had 3 great events, 1. Our college alumni meet in October..which was so nice, nostalgic days..meeting old college friends and new juniors.. and 2. enormous amounts of weddings of my friends... Ahh.. My facebook wall was flooded with beautiful-colourful photographs of engagement-wedding-honeymoon periods.. and 3. My parent's Silver-Jublee Anniversary.. It was full of surprises and gifts for mumma-papa which was all planned my me and Ankur (my younger brother)... Any ways, I concentrated on my life.... But was still unsatisfied... Something was missing...
In the month of November, I read an article which was about the growing poverty and corruption in our society which instantly gave me a push to do something for my society.. and for which I finally started pursuing the wish for my dream job.. IAS..! And yes... I was ready for it.. So I decided to take coaching classes from Delhi and this was the commencement of the hardest preparation of my life...study for civil services examination..which will follow my whole coming year of 2014....
So, now I see, I had no time for other things but to build my career.. and I am happy that I do not regret any thing or any moment of my days in 2013..! In fact in really happy because this year had tested what I really am and what I am capable of..!
And so, here I welcome the next year (2014) with open hands taking along good memories and burying not-so-good ones and hoping that the dedicated preparation for my dream job will fetch me good results. :) :)

When you make others feel important, you make yourself feel important...

Recently I was reading a novel, 'The Magic of Thinking Big' written by David J. Schwartz where I came across a wonderful line that "When you make others feel important, you make yourself feel important too". It is very right in today's business-oriented world wherein people must be felt they are necessary to get good results out of them. It is not the time of 'I-Don't-Care-Who-You-Are' attitude, it is the time for 'You-Are-Best-Person' attitude. And it gives great results when the other person reciprocates. When you start appreciating, your customers will start purchasing from you, your employees will put-in more hard work because they are motivated, your friends will give you more importance, etc. So if we think big about people, we get best out of them.
I remember, in my MBA days, while I was going to my class I saw a junior sitting in a corner and weeping. Since I was bit early, I decided to go to her and ask what is the matter. She told me that nobody in my class likes me because I am not good looking. I said good things about her and appreciated her talents and told her that the moment you feel good about yourself, people will surely like you. Since then I saw remarkable changes in her and also she made new friends. Not only that, whenever I pass-by her she greets me very nicely which in turn makes me feel special about myself.
There are few tips which can help us appreciate others. First and foremost, Start Appreciating others. This does not mean you should forcefully do it everytime, but it should come from our inside. Giving nice comments on small things for example, clothing, attitude, behavior also counts a lot to others and because of this they will also make you feel special and good. Treating every person on same line is one of the best way for appreciation, try appreciating a peon for his excellent cleaning work and see the smile on his face. While making others feel needed, we can also give importance to them. Saying to a person that this work can't be completed without your support gives other person a boost and motivation to do it nicely.
Such gestures are always appreciated, be it personal or work life and appreciating people will make them reciprocate good feelings about you which will ultimately make you feel important and BIG!

Memories are worth cherishing.... Happy Rakhshabandhan!

I remember in January when I was nearly 3 years old
A healthy baby boy was delivered by my mother
about whom I was being told since months
that soon enough I will have my angel brother

My grand-ma dressed me up in pink flair
Made 2 small coconut-tree types pony-tails of my hair
on the way to hospital she told me about the new baby-boy
with whom I could share all of my toy

But, see how stupid I was, that when I saw him with mommy
inspite of being happy about this sweet innocent baby
I cried after seeing mummy with a new child and shredded tears like an open tap
"Who is he and What is he doing on MY mumma's lap"..?

Very softly mumma took me and made me sit near him
and reminded me how anxious I was to see him,
I closely felt his heart looked at him
O yes..yes... That's my brother..that is HIM!

It was a proud moment for me being an elder sis
and a chance to pamper this cute teddy bear
I took an oath near the temple with a bliss
that I woun't let him shred a single drop of tear

As the days went by.. and years passed on
with one another we experienced days being both sweet and bitter
But, each day was a learning and moment to celebrate
the true relationship of a brother and a sister

This rakshabandhan, I promise once again
to be an ever loving and responsible elder sister
and YES...we will celebrate feeling of togetherness
for today, tomorrow and forever..!

Expectationssss...

The famous poet and short story writer, Sylvia Plath quoted once that, "If you expect nothing from anybody, you're never disappointed". Absolute truth!!! Almost all the problems, stress and eagerness in human nature comes from expectations. It is the only thing that tears apart many relationships and is the major reason for disturbance created in mindsets of people in general.
I don't say that expectations are bad, but as it is very well said, "Excess of everything is bad", exceeding expectations from others sows seeds of disappointments, leading to unhappy life. I've come across numerous cases wherein exceeding expectations have lead to unrest to mind-body-soul and believe me it is painful every moment. No peace of mind leads to sadness, imbalance in mind, increase in heart-beat rate, muscular problems and God knows what all....! You can never even think in your wildest imaginations that people loose their balance of mind just because of it. The more you expect, the more you are dependent on others and it becomes inevitable to even think of getting separated from them. And if it goes beyond limits, in psychological terms it is called as DPD or Dependent personality disorder. In DPD, people completely depend on others to meet their emotional and physical needs.
In our day-to-day lives we get to know various people through family, friends, school, work places, etc and we associate with those whose mindsets are kind of like ours. With change of time, place, scenario etc we move on and find new people with whom we continue our life and the line goes like that. So what do we see..? We see that people come, people goes..but what is constant is Me or Myself. I am the best person to see what is right or wrong for myself. But in this context we must never forget people who have made us what we are.. Our Parents, to some extent other family members and close friends. Many minds have come together in the process of making one single mind.. Myself. We all must have experienced this many times that whenever we desperately need someone, people donot turn up, it is you who have to help yourself. Here comes expectations and longingness of someone, and if they do not come to you, you feel like why the hell have we considered him/her my well-wisher when they can not help us in our need. But instead of expecting from others if you do it on your own, things are much easier and comfortable.
It's not that we are doing a sin by not expecting, but it is a very big word to expect something from others in this era of egotism and un-adjustment amongst people. Someone near my place once said that "98% of people are very nice and helpful and we can trust and expect from them"...! Ha!! A person living in a dangerous place like NCR says that...it means either he/she does not go out of their room or else he is an extremely rich person who can shower money and get things done so easily.
Ultimately we and our family are the only ones with whom we can expect and never get depressed because family always stays together no matter what.

Magnificent Taj...through my eyes.... enhancing my photography skills