The Importance of NOW

When I thought about posting a post today, I didn't have anything in mind, no interesting news article to write about or any incident to talk about. But there are a few interesting things about life that I would like share. I found this below passage from one of my fellow blogger's post which is very thought provoking. I liked it so much that I became tempted to borrow it from his blog.


"Within you is a stillness that is bursting with energy, a moment of silence full of potential. Within you is a place which knows fear is an illusion and therefore anything is possible. Beneath all the stories of this world is the universal story, the realization of how we are each connected to all existence. This is not an idea, a moment, a place or even a feeling; it simply is. It is the Now."


When I read this I realized that most of us worry about out past or the future than the present. Of course, this isn't a new mantra to us cos we have been hearing since ages that humans should give importance to the present circumstances. I partially agree with this because it's practically impossible not to linger on the past moments or not think about what the future will bring. I do believe that one cannot move ahead if he lives completely in the past or the future for NOW is very important.

The moment NOW is very divine and sacred for it in this moment that you can decide what it is you want to become and turn it into action, it is in this moment that you can tell your loved ones how much you love them, it is in this moment that you can give your dream the shape it deserves and it is in this moment you can ask for forgiveness.

NOW is something which is common between all of us. We all share the same NOW, the only difference is how each one of us makes use of that NOW. You can either ignore the NOW and become a loser or understand NOW and change your life. The choice is always and always yours.

Book Review: Not Without My Daughter

Non-fiction: Not without my daughter by Betty Mahmoody

When I first bought the book “Not without my daughter”, I wasn't really expecting to read a great story. But I was proved wrong; this book is a bundle of surprise. More than the story, the book taught me a great deal about life which all of us need to know.

Basic storyline: Betty Mahmoody, an American lady falls in love with an Iranian doctor who works in America and gets married to him for the sake of love. This story proves that love, with time changes and is not permanent. The two week vacation which Betty and their five year old daughter, Mahtob make to Iran along with her husband, Mahmoody turns out to a trap. Mahmoody captures his wife and daughter denying them the freedom to fly back to America, their hometown. He develops feelings for his country, Iran and forces his wife and daughter to follow the Iranian culture. Betty is trapped and separated from her daughter while she is held captive in a house. She is tortured, beaten and is threatened to kill if she went against her husband’s will.

The story takes an interesting turn when Betty makes use of every situation, however disappointing and hopeless it seemed. She follows the Iranian culture which she detested and she allows the man, who broke her heart, whom she detested, to touch her in an attempt to devise her plan to escape from Iran. More than often, she was offered help from strangers to escape to America but without her daughter. Betty stays firm that she wouldn't leave without her daughter.

The struggle and courage of one woman’s undying love for her daughter and the courage to escape from the clutches of a barbarian husband fills the reader’s heart with utmost respect for Betty Mahmoody. Though it seemed impossible to escape, after a long wait of 18 months, Betty manages to escape along with her daughter in the most perilous conditions which are beyond human endurance.

In the book, Betty has documented her experiences in the most detailed manner which explains how her every move was taken and also the people she met in her 18 month stay in Iran, some who helped her and some who betrayed her. It’s definitely a book which teaches that with profound faith and confidence, one can create his own destiny.

Same old rape case…..when will we react?

Well, this isn’t new. We are having so many problems around that the news of rape has hardly made us stop in our tracks. Instead, the word rape has become so common in our magazines and newspapers that we read it and flap the pages as if it were usual to read such news. And we are partly right in our actions. Nobody ever stops to see until it happens to us. If it has happened to someone else, the least we can do is offer sympathy and move because we have been taught that life is supposed to be lived forward.

Whatever been said and done, we simply cannot ignore rapes. India, as a country can never develop if it never learns to keep its daughters safe. No amount of money or technology progress will help India until women are able to walk in the roads without the fear of being raped. The news article in NDTV dated 27th December talks about a particular case where a teenager who was fighting for justice committed suicide after one month because she was given two options:

1. To have a financial settlement with her attackers.
2. Marry one of the attackers.

Surely, justice seems to have an alteration in its meaning if people start throwing their options such as the above. I am surprised and proud for the fact that the teenager fought her battle for a whole month after the attack but I am equally saddened that something broke her confidence and faith that drove her to kill herself. I can only pray for her soul to rest in peace.

NDTV:A 17-year-old in Patiala who had been gang-raped has committed suicide because the police allegedly embarrassed her and refused to register a case for over a month.

The teen was sexually assaulted on Diwali by two men. Though her family was threatened by the alleged rapists, they decided to file a police case two weeks after the attack.

The family alleges that the cops refused to register a case; they summoned the teen repeatedly to the police station and humiliated her. "The police started pressuring her to either reach a financial settlement with her attackers or marry one of them," her sister said today.

Let’s not forget that at any point of time, men were not born to rape and women were not born to be preys. There can be no space for such filth in a society which boasts about culture and values. All said and done, the recent rape incidents throws a strong message to women out there to safeguard themselves against the prevailing evil minds that roam our streets.

Please prove that you are not a robot!

I was recently trying to enter a comment on one of the blogs when I got the message “Please prove that you are not a robot. Enter the words shown below”. We have these captcha codes that are mandatory to be entered if you want your comment to be entered.
I couldn’t help smiling when I read the sentence “Please prove that you are not a robot”. As if entering the captcha code proves that. Well, in real life, we all have become robots. Now, now, yes we breathe, we eat, we cry, we laugh, we love, we sulk – none of these can be done by a robot. So, how are we robots?

A robot is anything that follows an order. If you look at it closely, most of us are actually following orders. No way, you argue, denying the fact that you follow orders. If that’s the case, why do you think people out there follow the media blindly? Why do you think people out there follow the customs and caste systems? Why do you think a human’s capacity is concluded with the wealth he possesses than his character? Why do you think we pay money for our needs without questioning if it’s worth or not?

Ages ago, someone decided to lay down the rules. To this day, we have been following them without questioning. To those who have tried to question, have been insulted or termed mad or crazy. Anybody who questions these silly, stupid, senseless rules is out of the league. We praise ourselves to be in accordance with the system while we are the actual fools.

Think for a moment about the decisions that you make. Think for a moment about the judgment you make about other people. Let’s prove that we are humans who have this special thinking capacity which can create wonders if used. Let’s prove that we are not ROBOTS.

Indian horror story: College student kidnapped child for 5 lakhs, killed him

The above statement is posted in 25th September NDTV headlines. When I read the story, I didn’t know what to think. But I wanted to know the details so I continued to read. What I read further shocked me so much that I had anger ebbing within me.

A college boy in Pune decided to kidnap a 5 year old kid from the neighborhood and demand a ransom of 5 lakhs because he needed the much used commodity – a bike. After the kidnap, for reasons unknown the lad strangled and killed the small boy to death on knowing that he wouldn’t get the money.

We, the people, are responsible for this. We are responsible for the college boy wanting the bike. We are responsible for the death of the small kid as well. Being a part of the society, we have built stereotypes of various kinds to such an extent that, the want of a vehicle has become more important than a life.

With increasing demand for a more materialistic life, we are losing the stand that real life lies in people, relationships, passions, service and devotion. The above incident is just a warning for all of us that we are yet to feel the wrath of money if we don’t stop bathing ourselves in wads of money.

I wonder now, how will the murderer live with this sin all his life. The curse and fury of the parents, the society and the Gods – is this needed for a lad whose life is yet to start. He gained the badge of a sinner, the small boy at the hands of death, the media running the story for a few more days and then towards the end, the world moves on as if nothing ever happened.

Ignoring the situation isn’t going to help us for long. Let us now, at least now, wake up and analyze for a moment the things we have been giving importance. Let us teach our children the importance and value of relationships. This lies purely in the hands of parents and teachers, so let’s make use of this power in the proper way.

Until then, we have to move on, but with the thought that gruesome murders shouldn’t be allowed to be a part of a normal living. If we start living with this, one day murders will becomes daily news.

You can also write for yahoo voices like I did...

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-deal-problems-11776674.html

Pleasant reminders

Today, being Ganesh Chathurthi, all of India is in full swing with streets displaying a wide range of clay Ganeshas. Of course, the package comes with a variety of sweets that seem too delicious for a wholesome meal.

As luck would have it, I had to report to office even when people around me were in the festive mood preparing themselves to enjoy the day. Reluctantly, I woke up and followed my routine despite my inner self not bothering to deny the sadness of not having a holiday. I boarded the office bus at sharp 7.45 am cursing the driver to show up punctually every single day (If he wanted he could come a little late by letting us sleep a little longer).

Choosing a window seat, I opened a copy of Reader’s digest and immersed myself in the world of light humor and bonus reads. In our office buses, usually a register is passed around in which we had to note down our names and sign the same. Apparently, it was followed to keep track of the passenger strength each day or so I thought.

Just when I was drawn deep inside the magazine, a felt a sharp thud of an object fall on my lap. With anger simmering inside, I noticed that the girl in my front seat had dropped it over me for signing it. The girl, who was now engrossed in the world of her headphones, didn’t see me noticing her with a callous expression. I decided to call her and teach her some manners.

For some reason, I held back. A few things started running into my mind.

1. I had to see her daily in the bus.
2. I didn’t want an argument to be a reminder when we saw each other.
3. True, she had dropped the register but it wasn’t as if I had a fracture or a wound.
4. May be it wasn’t such a big deal; she must have dropped it by mistake.

I resumed reading my magazine forgetting the entire episode but I learnt an important lesson. In most situations, we argue for things that don’t hold much water at all. If we sat back and thought about the anger and hurtful situations that come in our lives, most aren’t worth talking or discussing about. But we usually make a big fuss which in turn gives way for unpleasant encounters with people.

May be if we could hold back ourselves, we wouldn’t have so called “problems” that we complain about. Above all, we all need pleasant reminders when we meet people which is possible only if we smile and learn to let go.