Matters of the heart

Matters of the heart
Better left unsiad

Memories of the melody of that night..
The long walk to the beach..

The dance and the talk...
The song of the waves..

The silent glance..
The killer smile..

You make me go crazy
Every time I hear your voice..

Matters of the heart..
Better left hidden..

The magical gift..
The dramatic romance..
Just like in the movies..

The killing confusion..
Terrible realisation..
Soothing music..

Matters of the heart...
Better left not to repeat..

The pleasant surprise..
Dreamy Eyes..
Monstrous preaching...

Matters of the heart...
Better left to God..

As you continue your pursuit...
As I remain in denial..

There comes the monstrous preacher..
Creating more confusions...

Matters of the heart...
Better left unsaid...

My heart speaks.

My life has never been a cakewalk. In my primary school days I was a topper..in my highschool days because of different reasons I became an average student if acadeic excellence is the parameter of a person's success. After highschool in my pre degree days I became a topper again only to falter in the final hurdle where I gained fourth rank in my college. I came back strongly to secure second rank in graduation. Only to get another average score in my post graduate correspondence course. As you can clearly see I have had a rollercoaster life in terms of success...people around me have always seen me as an idealist and a person with immense potential. But everyone failed to recognise a free spirit within me except my parents and a dear friend. The behaviour of many people around me hurt me deeply and during my low phase I closed down my social window and stopped interacting with anyone who reminded me of negative thinking.

Then I started succeeding again in my typical style...coming back from failures and having a successful streak. This time everything seemed so good that everyone wanted to talk to me and know my future plans. Finally clearing career oriented exams gave me a confidence that I can do anything. People wanted to know when I will get my promotion...in how many years..etc. There I realised again that people measure your success in terms of money and not in terms of your ability to overcome challenges. Then I went on a lone biker journey to Goa to visit old temples and connect myself to my routes. People around me were not satisfied. Some called me a fool and some questioned the very basis of travelling alone. This gave me a realization that there are only a few souls in this world that understand me and I must only concentrate on what they feel and not what others feel. So after eight months of my goan bike trip I went on my second biker trip. This time to Chennai.

The trip was not a joy ride or a journey to connect with my roots. Neither was this trip made to prove a point to anyone. This was a trip to test my ability..to travel alone long distances...driving alone in the heat,dust,cold reaching my destination. This was a test of my character. Unveiling my ability to do anything my heart wants.

I informed no one in Chennai that I was coming in bike. I took a journey of thirteen hours with five short breaks beating the heat,dust and madness of the highway. Once I reached there I met some important friends and well wishers that I had planned and everyone was in awe of the new me. No one had in their wildest dream had thought I ll drive that long a distance within a day and come to Chennai. No one before had seen this side of my personality and the ones who saw have now seen a different person. The return journey took less time and I came back in 11 and half hours.

I came back like a soldier who had conquered his enemies. I had conquered my own enemies. As my bike's name is avenger...I had avenged my enemies..by conquering my own insecurities. This journey is just a beginning. Yet it will always remain as the one that gave me a purpose in my life.

Now that one week is over since I came back I have witnessed a different personality inside me. A dreamer who will go to any extent to achieve his dreams. Now I have decided that enough is enough..I ll not live someone else's life or dream someone's dream anymore... In career and life I ll do what I want to (not arrogantly) but with a gentle touch of authority.

I shall not let my life be a rollercoaster ride again..I shall live for the sake of my dreams..and lead my life the way I want it to be.

My dear detractors who are plenty in number...thank you. Without your discouragement in every stage of my life and  your doubt in my abilities I couldn't have done all this.

I had not planned writing this post. Then I realized, just like I dedicate my success to some people..I need to acknowledge my detractors. Their negativity is the source of my positive energy.

Hope everyone lives happily.

Co incidence of epic proportions

Today is world mental health day.Yes it's nothing extraordinary considering we have a day dedicated to every other thing. What this day brought me is a coincidence of epic proportions.

Let me explain..as usual I logged in to my blogger profile to see my blog posts and my reading list. There all of a sudden I felt like checking Shridevi Nayak Karopady aka Sridu's blog Myspell. Before writing more let me give you a brief intro of how I came to know her blog...It was through a fb post few years ago posted by Preeti Shenoy...Shridevi had written a post on Preeti Shenoy's books... me being a fan boy was interested in knowing what another fan had to write about Preeti Shenoy. It was my first exposure to this talented woman's world.

Thereafter I became one of her readers..and came to know about an interesting personality...all from her posts where she wrote about subjects ranging from her childhood to her passion for writing...her simple joys..insecurities...so on...I occasionally commented..sometimes didn't even comment and read her posts and felt happy.

Now back to this coincidence... As I opened her blog it read that her blog has been moved to  letmesquiggle.com . As I opened letmesquiggle.com/2015/10/05/compassion-and-healing/ I had before me a post written by sridu on 5th October which is just another normal day. But as I continued reading the post what I saw was an honest and brave admission by a youngster about her bipolar disorder. It's a mental disorder which goes on to destroy a person's life if left untreated. She had written a post titled "there are 26 crore depressed Indians and why I care". There she has written about her ongoing battle with bipolar disorder and how her life is going after she came to know she has bipolar disorder type 2.

This is indeed a coincidence of epic proportions... accidentally reading a post on world mental health day about a young lady's battle with depression.

Now what made me write about her in my blog is not her honest admission or  her being a woman...There are way too many people out there who are facing depression and many high profile individuals like Deepika Padukone admit it and start campaigns and foundations for supporting their cause.

But rarely do we find a person who wrote an entire post to not just reveal her illness but empathised with countless other souls who are voiceless. I felt it to be my duty to write a post on her...I don't know if she will find this post or read it. I am just happy to have made a difference by acknowledging a wonderful woman's spirit of life.

PS: Dear Shridevi if you happen to read this post by chance, remember that you are not alone in your battle.. There is someone somewhere praying for your recovery and waiting to read your posts.Keep Smiling.

Elements

Fire

As the funeral pyre was lit by him he remembered the promises that he had made keeping the sacred fire as witness...he had promised her that he would be her partner in all endeavors... But that that was another moment...in few moments she was to be turned in to ashes...to be free from all bonds...not just marriage...but life itself..His bond with her started with fire as witness...Now he witnessed how fire erased the last traces of her physical existence. He walked back silently...with her ashes in the pot.

Water

As he immersed her ashes in the holy river,asking the mother goddess to cleanse his beloved of all sins...he wished for a flood so that he gets washed away...but the river was calm and he had to come back to the madness of life.

Earth

As he was walking...he wished there would be a earth quake so that he can avoid living on earth that does not have the presence of his beloved..it was not to be...the earth was strong enough to contain the pressure and let her son walk safely.

Air

As he continued walking towards home,it darkened and the air was smelling of freshness of first rain...reminding him of his first meeting with her...He wished for a thunderstorm so he would be taken away by the breeze in to the unknown... But the breeze gently touched him on the cheek reminding him of her touch...


Sky

He decided it's good to jump from stairs so that he be able to reach her...but when he looked up in the sky while taking the steps towards stairs...he saw the moon and the promise he had made her under the moonlit night on their first anniversary...to never give up in life...to live...no matter how the world acted...or circumstances reacted...he had tears in eyes and saw her as a bright star protecting him from all troubles.

There he slept on the ground of terrace closing his eyes......

Midnight post

War and Peace

As the smoke clears there is calmness all around...I am at peace as I don't hear cries of wounded soldiers anymore. I get up to find there is no pain in my chest and I don't have my Rifle in hands...I have neither hatred nor love...Then I see my enemy that I shot down moments ago walk towards me with hands gesturing for a hug.Surprisingly we shake our hands and hug and  walk together  towards the unending road peacefully..

Open Letter to Hardik Patel

Dear Hardik,

I congratulate you on your new found fame all over India and especially Gujarat! For the past few days you have been a constant trend on social media, sensation hungry electronic media and nation as a whole thanks to your public rallies demanding OBC status to your community.

You are young,energetic and have a solid  backing of political heavyweights as it has been evident in your large rallies organised by your group of people. You are free to demand anything in a democratic country as long as you do not disturb the social harmony prevailing in a state. You claim that it is your right to have reservation, you claim supreme court must take a  call on increasing the quota for reservation and you go on claiming your rights. You say that you're holding peaceful demonstrations and in the same breath threaten a democratically elected government, of consequences it will have to face if it does not listen to your demands. Its all about your right,your demand and listening to you.

You claim to belong to the same community as the legendary Sardar Patel and you act in a manner which is highly disrespectful to the iron man of India who stood for India's unity, while you shamelessly stand on the blessed nation's soil determined to take a divisive course of action. Your supporters call you new Modi, while the great man, our prime minister, has a humble background and stands for the ideology sabka saath sabka vikas. You claim to hold peaceful demonstration, while some supporters of your movement turn  violent and hurl caste abuse against other caste members. If you are really apolitical why do you threaten that lotus will not blossom in 2017 ? If you do not have any political aspirations why did you endorse Arvind Kejriwal in 2014 elections and why are your supporters wearing skull caps styled after mein hoon aam aadmi famous from AAP? If you stand for peace then why is a pic of you holding a gun is making rounds??
If you do not belong to any political party why do you make announcement that patidars will vote those who give them reservation?

There are more questions emerging than answers from your suspicious actions from last few days. Have you ever wiped the eyes of a underprivileged patidhar?? or shared your meal with an underprivileged patidhar or a poor man from some corner of Gujarat???

You are channelising your skills into a wrong cause and threatening to uproot an elected government. If these are the hallmarks of your proposed social movement,  then any sane person with a little bit of common sense will call it blackmail than a social movement.

The 65 percent youth of this nation including you and me are looking at a bright future in a changing India which is slowly yet steadily gravitating towards a merit based social order than a caste based one. We are getting educated and having privileges which our elders could only dream of. Yet people like you are making fun of this generation by proving that anyone can buy us for their selfish political ends. I ll stop short of calling you that you are sold which would be an understatement. You are trying to buy limelight for your own selfish needs. You are not only misleading your community members but you are trying to mislead a young bright generation. Go and read your primary school textbook to know the duties of an Indian citizen.If you haven't kept them I would recommend you to visit a school book shop in Ahmedabad where you can get it.

This has already been a long letter. I know this will not reach you. Even if this reaches, you will not understand this as you are consumed in your own ulterior motives.

Wishing you a good health and a speedy understanding of ground realities.

Fellow Citizen of the great republic of  India

Chyavan Mallya B,
A no one.

Icons Are Above Caste

The Patel agitation led by Hardik Patel that is boiling in Gujarat over OBC status for Patel Community rises a serious question on associating socio-cultural icons with the caste they were born in. By invoking Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in his speeches and demanding reservation for his community, Hardik has made a serious error of looking at our national icons through the narrow eyes of caste.

Let me be clear. Sardar Patel, who is rightly called the iron man of India, prevented the danger of India's further division in post independence era. Had it not been to the bold decisions of this legend, our nation might have been divided in to 500 princely states quarrelling among themselves. Such was the vision of Patel, that he united a nation that was deeply divided on the basis of caste,religion,language and geography. To associate such a legend with caste is a foolishness. One can be proud that Sardar Patel was born in his community but, taking his name for the sake of further division of an already divided society by reservation is s serious error on the part of young Hardik.

If we were to call Mahatma Gandhi a bania, Pandit Nehru a Brahmin,  Bharat Ratna Dr APJ Abdul Kalam a muslim or Dr Verghese Kurien,the father of white revolution as a Christian, we are making a great disservice to a nation which is deeply secular in its tradition and has the much revered constitution having the ideals of the great Dr B R Ambedkar, the father of modern India's social awakening and reformation. The so called leaders of politically motivated agitations and movements not only disturb prevailing social harmony but also seriously threaten the channel of inclusive progress.

Everyone can be proud that a personality who has achieved a great degree of success in  one's field was born in a community that he made famous. But invoking the name of that person as someone exclusive to a community and as an ideal of selfish interest is a deep disregard to such personality.

Our icons were born in  a community much like all of us are. They made progress to break the barriers of religious ethnicity,caste based diversity and linguistic variety and rose above these divisions and became Mahatmas.

We are at a crucial juncture in modern India's progress where the majority of the nation's population is young which is supposed to be unbiased regarding these narrow sentiments, yet has a deeply polarizing example in a young leader trying to gain foothold in political arena with his caste based social movement. It is up to us to decide whether we want to be progressive or regressive.