A Thankless Job!

Camera zooms out...as far as outerspace - Planet earth is colored 70% in blue and the remaining 30% in white, green and brown. The 30% that I just mentioned helps us breathe and survive and lest we realize, its soon going to change.

Camera zooms in...as close to Chennai at Mount Road - With a varied mix of percentages, my world is covered in black, white and shades of grey and lest I realize, Im about to melt and drop dead. It was at this moment when I had to halt at this signal stopping where something unusual happened.

Mount Road in Chennai is a stretch which has no trees planted but have medians which have saplings planted just for beauty sake. In my usual routine of riding to work amidst all the madness, today was a tad tough time on the road with respect to the heat, noise and the smoke around. It was then that a sapling on the median on the road placed its shade by the order of the winds like a blessing in disguise to protect me from the heat. For a moment, the world within the shade seemed like a different weather altogether! My shrunk eyes were wide open and its been a while since Ive seen Mount Road that clearly! The soaring temprature turned to a caressing moment which calmed me in no time and brought the world around me to a silent shroud...

I turned around to see a cute child like sapling and I could literally see it smile and all I could give back or rather say was...'thanks'. It was the only thing I could even say...but in a few minutes, I had to race to work from that oasis to another barren concrete journey.

I sometimes wonder, how much can we pain this planet and bring more convenience to our lives! We must realize that the oxygen we breathe are from the trees we seed. We cut them like they had no purpose or like they had no life! What if nature fought back...would we be able to withstand the attack? Would they hear our cries of forgiveness? Think about it...hasnt mother nature had enough of all the atrocities mankind has brought upon?

The shades of the trees dont come of use to them and still we want to dispose them off their roots to build a better place! What on God's name are we upto...digging our own graves? Dont they bear the brunt of the sun and the storm to protect us? Why as kids did we play around them like they were our grandparents and when we grow up, hell bent on uprooting them? Food for thought isnt it? Doesnt it also sound like we are biting the hand that feeds us? Crude but still worth thinking about...

An author's inspiration, a poet's muse, a duet's destination...amidst other common purposes of any living being. Shouldnt it be our sworn duty to protect them for what theyve done over the centuries to build our ecosystem? Above all, in today's economic value by virtue of ones salary, do we even remunerate them for services rendered? Well, isn't this then, an eternally thankless job?

Nail the Enigma - II

In my continuing effort to cut down on the length of prose and a comeback to poetry, here is the second edition of Nail the Enigma...

The rules are simple...figure out the theme / concept / meaning / subject / situation etc. So, here we go...

Sanity broken by a murderous tangent
Contoured map with endless routes
Wrinkled rubber of age-old routine
Tanned tales and coloured rules

Nail this enigma and pin your comments to see who gets the closest to what the lines actually mean. Till the next cut is delivered...

Never Say Die...

Ive always craved to meet a godfatherly type of person in my life for various reasons. Someone who could show me the way or even tell me if this was the best thing to do or the best way to do anything I aspired. Unfortunately, in that search in trying to find one, I tread on a self driven and to be honest which wasnt the easiest and not the wisest to do. My belief is that if there isnt an external intervention, we journey with only a personal perspective that guides us throughout (which most often isnt the complete picture). I missed doing a lot of things in life for which I regret at this age...but here is the best part...ive also learnt something aweosme by taking my own path...its never late to do anything in life. A dream is a dream and an effort doesnt depend on age at all. It is therefore a challenge to all those who have almost or nearly given up...never say 'die'.

As a person, Ive always enjoyed encouraging people...get the positive vibe across and be a part of their success. There is so much joy i experience that sometimes I thought of becoming a coach (which I dint want to tread towards deliberately). It doesnt matter who or where or when...my general feeling is that everyone has an ability they might or might not be aware of. Im not here to preach the Nothing is Impossible theory but to an extent...if we set a dream for ourselves...chasing it will certainly take us somewhere if not for nowhere. You might encourage a kid to take its first walk or an retired officer to take up singing...doesnt matter. Its all about helping people re-discovering or uncovering their abilities.

According to me (and many more philosophers around the world) believe that its never too late to do anything in life. We live only once (hereby denying the theory of an afterlife) and I believe we must live it by doing what we always love and cherish and stop cribbing that we can't! Imagine the time we must have wasted thinking we can't than how much time we could have used by saying 'why not'!

So keeping all of this in mind, here is a perspective of how we can let others realize their long lost but aspiring dream of doing whatever they had in mind. Its very simple...all it takes is a little push! Obviously it musnt be taken in its literal sense so let me unfold this mystery to all those who deserve that push and to those who are willing to give one...

Here is a little trick first hand...there is no way you can identify exceptional talent in an off-hand manner...you can only come across one. It is because they have already found their potential and they only need to elevate themselves from a stage to the spotlight. The key is in identifying those who had that dream but due to various circumstances or limitations might not have been able to see their dreams become reality. The fact that they wanted to be like superstars might be a distant dream but at least they might get a second start. To see someone smile after theyve made their first attempt at their dreams is something I feel thrilled about because it is that small step that gives them that giant leap.

Why am I preaching so much? Why do I sound like a Business Baron whos written a 400 pager book which keeps delivering the same message? Am I sounding like a coach whos got a career or trying to make one? So many questions in your minds and I can already sense it. But, to be honest with you all, I just love encouraging people who dream...if there is a passion in life, I enjoy helping people find it and bring it to reality. Any little skill or hobby that they possess, I try to push them to take it to a bigger level...Im not building champions or winners here but just helping normal people do something extra-ordinary in whatever scale they wish to. Do note that any dream can go far only as much as how far you want it to go...I only help in the trigger (which according to me is the toughest job). But as they say...a good start is half the job done.

Most of my effort is actually unplanned and it all begins when I come across a person who is generally cynical about things around or someone who is depressed or an introvert in life. Actually they are easy to find but hard to get around with...positive people are hard to find and easy to get around with. So that actual effort is to turn them from at their current degree of their downward spiral to a higher spiral where they see a little relief in their current predicament. Its all about belief and hope...if you can instill any one of this, then it certainly works...takes time but worth the investment.

Most cases where I have tried this theory, there has been a lot of positive response and the other person's happiness and hope is the sign of instant success. This theory is entirely self tested as well...let me explain! My brother has been playing the guitar for the last 6 years and obviously the kind of music Ive influenced him with. So the root of it all actually was the listening exercise that we used to have whenever school or college would get over and when we would play the music on the speakers. The best part was he was inspired immediately to play but I was still stuck at listening and researching music...whereas he was at a total upward spiral. When the time came when we got him an electric guitar, I was still listening and researching and he was playing faster and faster. He kept pushing me to play and all I kept telling him that there were too many strings and frets and it was just impossible! It actually took him so many years to successfully convince me to pick a guitar when one fine day he said that they needed a band-mate and I was there but was of no use despite my know-how! And that day I wasn't hurt...I was actually inspired! It was that same day I stepped out to the music shop and got myself a guitar. Its almost a year now and I aspire to become a bass guitarist one day and im 26 years old. Most people think that its too late to do anything...I dint dare to dream to do this until I was 25 (thats almost a third of my life if I were to live a hopeful 75!).

I once tried teaching a 7 or 8 year old boy of a labourer's family at a construction site on how to bowl and he was an aspiring left arm fast bowler...he grew so much in confidence that moment and his pace increased with every attempt and his smile became a mean grin like he was already in a match or so. That brought me so much joy that I could feel the enthusiasm get better and better with just a few words and continuous encouragement.

I once met a small boy (from a fisherman's family) selling flowers at the beach and he was pretty persuasive with me and a friend...and then I took a conversation with him and asked him about his aspirations (this was the time when APJ Abdul Kalam was the president)...and he mentioned that he would like to be like APJ Abdul Kalam. So i told him...its possible provided you do well in school and you stopped selling flowers. But that was one of his family's incomes and he wouldnt be able to . But then I couldnt deprive his family too...so I told him to take his schooling as primary importance and then his profession only if he had free time. He went back to his sales merrily and I almost found an amazing sales and marketing guy there...he could sell and I had to buy his product (though the flowers were meant for my friend). I did nothing there but just sow the seed of confidence.

This is just my tip of the iceberg...there are so many of them like that and imagine if all of them could do wonders if they all realized their potentials...young or old. All it takes is a little push. Find them and help them...give them that little confidence and they will see you as their godfathers or godmothers...it matters so much to them. It might be a struggle if they dont breakthrough but at least they will attempt. As the olympics emphatically states...its not about winning...its about participating. Lets help these lost souls that have given up to find a good reason why they should be happy again...

Another angle that I tell people to take in life is that we must prepare oursleves to lead 2 lives in one (No derogatory interpretations here please). In todays work pressures, it is so difficult to pursue our interests or even small hobbies which we once cherished when were in school or in college. We must push to lead 2 lives...how...its simple! When we finish work and return to our homes and havens...(which is tough and most unpredictable) one must switch off from work life and pursue some interest so that they are connected to themselves.

I know its easier said than done (I cannot help people who possess Blackberries). I even urge people with kids to help their kids pursue their interests and in that manner...rediscover theirs! Sometimes its so heartening to see your kids take up your dreams where you had left them doesnt it! Think about it...those who couldnt...can teach! And there is no dialogue called - I dont have time or there just isnt any! I think we must get over this line and make time. I know friends who are into so many things despite working or studying...Ive seen it and its possible.

So, now you can imagine...if I have started to play the guitar (and Im proud to say so despite my limited knowledge)...anyone can begin a dream and make it come true at any point of time in their lives. By doing so, make sure you pass the vibe and energy to others around you...young or old and see the magic unfold in front of your eyes. Help those who deserve it and tell them that once what was given up, those dreams must never die...