Paper Planes

I was reading an article the other day. It spoke remarkably abo ut passion and talent… I am sure almost all of us would have come across such people who are very passionate about something but even then they don’t seem to do so well in that particular field. They are just unable to get much success in that domain despite of having an unquenchable passion for it. In fact in some cases passion even changes to obsession. Today is the world of realty TV shows. Everyone is going gaga over them! I guess every channel has one or the other reality show going on at one point of time so each one of us would have surely come across them. They can be competitions of dancing, singing, cooking and even of being the SUPERSTUD (remember???I know strange!) Anyways, don’t you think each and every contestants in these shows seems to be equally passionate for their domain (except superstud! because they niether look passionate nor talented), they all have such an insatiable urge to w...

This piece is about a friend of mine in school. We studied together for 5 years from high school till graduation. She is somebody who is a perfect example of how marriage (or may be your in laws!) can change your whole life, whole personality! How it can construct or ruin you… When one sees such incidents happening around, the belief that a girl’s life completely depends on her next family becomes stronger! Anyways, let me first give a snapshot of her personality before she got married. Adjectives like bold, brave and audacious are the ones which could define her perfectly! She was a tigress! Nobody in College ever dared to even look straight in her eyes. She was a persona of courage who had the power to stand against the gundas of our college. And the most important characteristic of her: she never used to crib or cry! But now, now she is completely a different person or rather I should say she is completely contrary to what she was! She got married 2 years back! I called her up on...

They used to say that I was a very ambitious person.   Somebody who was always behind something and just could not breathe till it was achieved! True! I WAS like that. Yes I was… not anymore! In the initial phase of my career, I was one of those who used to work tremendously hard. I used to hate going home early as it was something equal to wasting time for me. I used to feel that the same time could be actually consumed productively if devoted to work. I used to work till late nights, used to take up assignments blindly without even thinking about the pressure, there were no weekends for me! Actually this word ‘Work Pressure’ never existed in my dictionary. People at work, who know me well and who doesn’t know me at all, used to define me as a very energetic, over enthusiastic person, somebody with crazy vigor… But in all this, I never realized that I was missing something so precious, something so valuable and that was my family! The success and all, no doubt gave me an ampl...

I  still remember the first time I heard about a mobile! I was in 8 th or 9 th std and got so much fascinated by the idea of carrying a phone wherever you go!   I used to ask my dad to buy one. But then spending 14 Rs /min for just talking to somebody was something which was out of reach for any middle class person! I used to think that if ever I possess a mobile, will be like a dream come true. Then just after 4-5 years, in my graduation, I was an owner of a mobile and it was no big deal for me or for anybody else for that matter.   Same was the case with desktop. People who used to have desktops used to be considered rich and weathly and knowledgeable too as they used to use computers! But then, after few years, everybody had them and infact, now they are in the dying phase. Likewise happened with laptops! Initially, when they were introduced in the market, everybody went crazy for them. Everywhere there was news about laptops and everyone w...

I have always shared a peculiar relationship with God. I mean I do not visit temples much, I do not fast, I do not light a lamp every morning at home, I don’t chant bhajans sitting in front of God, I do not offer him food before I eat, I don’t offer money to temples, I don’t do any of the defined things which can prove my faith in God. But is doing these defined things the only way which can identify my faith in God and label me as a believer in him. Despite of not doing any of these things, I can say very strongly that I do believe in him. I don’t do any of the defined things but I do things which I feel God would be happy to see me doing! And that is my way of showing love and faith in my diety! I think rather than visiting temples, people should visit orphanages and just have a word with the orphans who will be immensely happy to see people caring about them!   Rather than fasting, just thank God once everyday to give you the food of the day! Rat...

I  was astonished to see the way people go crazy on Ganesh Chaturthi! Well before going further, let me clarify that I am somebody who has enormous belief in Lord Ganesha! Coming back to the point, we have a very small lake here in Hyderabad. Every year, on Ganesh Charuthi thousands of clay made Ganesh statues are dumped in it which spoils and destroys the water in the lake. People do not understand that the statues made up of plaster of paris and clay do not get dissolved in the water which leads to the degradation of water quality. Even the siltation gets added up because of the toxic plastic and fluorescent paints which are used in the making of the idols. Secondly, on the day of Ganesh immersion and even the next day to it, the whole road (which is one of the main roads) is blocked causing immense trouble to people and paralyzing the whole city! I mean, forget about travelling on the same day of immersion, but even next day it can take you hours just to cover a distance o...

The other day, I read an amazing story somewhere. It goes like this: Once a king was imprisoned by the monarch of the neighboring state. The monarch would have killed the king but he was really moved by the king’s youth. So, the monarch decided not to kill him and instead, give him his freedom if he is worth it. And so, he decided to take a small test of the imprisoned king. The monarch asked the king to find the answer of a question and even gave him the time span of a year. If the king gets the success in providing a satisfactory answer of that particular question in one year, he would be able to win his and his kingdom’s freedom forever but if he fails then he will have to die! The question which the monarch had put up in front of the king was “What does a woman really wants?” The king accepted the bet and so, was released for a year. Then, he devoted his days and nights in finding the answer of this question. He met all the women of his kingdom, even from other neighbori...

One of the toughest things for us: humans is to forgive or forget somebody who has hurt us or gave us some sort of pain. Right? I mean we all love to read stories about people like Gandhiji who always responded with love to somebody’s hatred. But why is it that, when the same thing falls on us to be followed, we are unable to do it? Why is it so tough for us to follow the same principles… Even i am no different. Or in fact i am worse! I just hate to forgive and forget those who had hurt me in some or the other way! Its one of the toughest thing for me to do! I am among those phychos who never forget their enemies and forgiving is something which doesnt exist in their dictionaries! But this is surely not something I am proud of. But then gradually I realized one thing that not forgiving somebody and killing yourself by thinking about what happened is not a solution to the problem! It can do nothing to help you... Infact, it is better to let it go if you can’t for...

Our country is going through a strange phase, a kind of peculiar turmoil! I mean from last one year, one or the other issue is getting emerged which leaves everyone in a state of shock and pain but there is very less, we can do about it… It was truly so unfortunate to see a series of blasts happening in our country again and again! We all Indians have no option other than feeling sad and angry! And sadder is to hear the statements from our PM, home minister and other leaders post attacks and blasts!!! Guess, our government has got everything wrong, everything: from corruption to intelligence failures. Oh sorry, this time according to our honorable home minister Mr. P. Chidambaram “Intelligence pertaining to threats emanating from certain groups was shared with Delhi Police in July, 2011” So, the Govt was aware of it since July and was waiting for it to happen and to share their condolences with the country again! In the last one year, India has witnessed so many events...

I really liked a message which was sent to me today morning by a friend and would love to share it with everyone. It goes like this: A sweet question to God: Teri duniya mein ye manjar kyun hai, Kahin zakhm toh kahi peeth mein khanzar kyu hai, Suna hai ki tu har zarre mein basta hai, Toh zameen pe kahin maszid toh kahi mandir kyun hai! Jab rehne wale is duniya ke hai tere hi bande, Toh koi kisi ka dost toh koi kisi ka dushman kyu hai! There is so much intensity, such a profound depth in each and every word of it! These few words have so much strength that they simply made me speechless…

Friday night it poured cats and dogs. I was sure that our weekend is going to be completely drenched which I, somehow dislike! This ‘dislike’ is not for the rain but yes, for the weather: when it doesn’t rain but there are heavy clouds passing a message that we can burst anytime! There is no brightness; you just get scared of stepping out as I am sure nobody likes to get soaked anytime and everytime! I feel this sort of weather is someway depressing (atleast for me) Anyways, but then next morning when I woke up, to my surprise, the sun was smiling in the sky, it was bright, clear and brilliant. The weather was back to normal which filled me with ecstacy. But I was amazed by this sudden transformation of the weather. I mean isn’t it really tough to predict the next morning’s weather until you are an employee in weather forecasting department, offcourse! Anyways, don’t you think that these changes in the weather and in fact all the seasons represent different phases in l...