The world is going through such a change that sometimes I feel this generation (i.e. mine) is the transition team... the team that oversees the entire process of change... and who hand holds the entire young and old generation through this transition process... I see so many new challenges and hurdles in the path of my generation... some of these challenges that our forefathers did not have to face.... there are so many questions...so many options... so many decisions to make...

Being in the transition team is slightly daunting... so what are you supposed to do after the transition is done? and you wonder who will benefit from the transition? the new generation? What is in it for you? will you enjoy the benefits of your efforts? Or will it be like our freedom fighters who died and gave us our freedom to enjoy? will people hold placards in our memory cos of the sterling role that we played in getting our country where it is....

Somehow I doubt it...

Voohoooo! 700th post!! I will open champagne when I reach 1000....

why do I write this blog? Mainly cos I think so much and I need to vent out somewhere... also I really really like to write... its sometimes therapeutic....

there are so many things I like to write about but dont... somewhere the invasion of privacy becomes an issue....

I am amazed at how much I am learning about myself.... and not all good.... recently one more incident could have snow balled into a standoff/cutting off if I had not stopped, analysed and taken the calmer approach.... I halted my thot process, took time to talk to my friend and realised that there was nothing much to the issue....

The earlier me would have jumped and cut the person off... not the new me... as much as people didnt cut me off when I behaved badly I should not either...

And the old adage "never say never" truly applies in life.... one has to be open to all kinds of possibilities to live life....

 

Finally Kasab dead!! its almost like a Osama bin laden moment for us Indians! I think the government did good in finishing off this business... kudos to the government for taking such a bold step...

Killing Kasab off was in some ways an end to all the years of feeling under attack... now we have shown the world that we take bold decisions as well... and that in our country even a terrorist gets a fair trial... to think, we actually had a lawyer create a story for Kasab saying he was mistaken for someone else and he had come to India only to become an actor! nobody can claim that we did not follow the due process of law.... I am so proud to be an Indian....

On the other hand, I do feel that we caught the small fish... he was probably a misguided youth from Pakistan... who must have been promised virgins and didnt actually understand what he was doing....I feel sorry for such youth... who get caught in this international conspiracy....

Anyways, all I can say is that I am feeling good today about this... feels like my day started off good...

This Diwali has been in more than one way been life altering... it was absolutely fantastic to relax and enjoy the festival... i was able to devote a lot of time to buy things for the house... lights, rugs etc.... I liked seeing my list being ticked off....

the death of Bal over this weekend was a dampner...not that I was much of a follower... it was depressing to not have any autos, shops open over the weekend... I made good of whatever came however... so I cycled everywhere... played badminton over the weekend.....and generally had a great time...

this was also a period of realisation .... I have this bad tendency to always judge in black and white... if you did this then this is what you mean and hence I will not have you in life... I cut off people quite regularly and dont even give them a chance.....now I didnt realise that this was infact hurting me more.... not keeping these people in my life was actually hurting me more than keeping them in my life.... ostensibly the reason I didnt want them in my life was to prevent them from hurting me again.... but what I realised is that life is never about black and white.... there are shades of grey.... and people dont necessarily mean to hurt you... they end up hurting you.... they probably never intended it... and even if they intended it for that time, if they come and apologise then that is also fine... its very difficult for me to understand this concept..... I never give second chances... and I dont necessarily wish to also... but in the process I have remained the hurt one..... I recently discussed with a friend on how much I missed that friend since we were not talking for more than a year... and the friend retorted saying "i tried to reach out to you in so many ways... you just shut the door on me"... and I was shocked to hear someone say that about me.... to think I was rejecting conciliatory overtures from a dear one was an eye opener for me... how dare I think I deserve their efforts? and how dare I not respect their efforts... they have afterall spent so many hours holding my hand and giving me support.... and if they made a mistake with me should I not hear them out at least.... and what if they genuinely screwed up...

there is a saying... just because someone does not love you the way you want them to does not mean that they dont love you with all they have... I never understood this.. now I do... each person comes with limitations...

new year, new beginning... new me.... letting go....

So some messages actually dont get delivered??? I never believed people when they said they did not receive the messages... till a friend pointed out that I had not responded to two messages sent at two different times!!!

so since i have been at the receiving end of the non-receipt of messages and people actually thinkin of it as a snub from me, I would like to apologise to all the people I have cut out from my life on account of such technology induced misunderstanding.... really really sorry...and I wish I had been more patient and understanding and given our relationship a chance....

so whats the lesson for me here? never assume.... always check... and ofcourse sometimes it is possibel that the person really wanted to snub you but at least you will know for sure that that is what is really going on....

I am surprised at how many young people are getting more and more concious of political situation in India... a few years back any discussion on politics would be dismissed as being boring.... and soon the talk would gravitate towards drinking, relationships, money etc... all very light topics ... and finally everybody would go to sleep completely drunk .....

Nowadays I am finding a new lot of people who are really interested in politics and things that are happening around them.... many people have views on the political parties and who they will vote for ... and they all have opinions... and I seem to have a lot of different views from the general view... I am a die hard congress supporter and I defend Manmohan Singh like no other..... I would rather go with a known devil rather than a known devil.... I hate BJP from the core of my heart... and anybody who supports them gets a blasting from me....

I see a lot changing in India.... people are becoming aware... and on account of Anna people are becoming less afraid of protesting... is this going to make India a better place?  in my view this is the turning point of Indian politics... now is the time change is slowly seeping in... politicians are realising that it is not easy to go through life as "business as usual" attitude... the powerful politicians cannot loot indefinitely now...

or perhaps Mulayam has the last word on it - "take but work hard also".... nice middle path in a country  that is the birth place of the "middle path" philosphy of Budhha.... 

so whats with people not responding to messages nowadays??

... it started with a girl friend of  mine a while back where all my messages would go unanswered... and on enquiry i was told "i never got any"... somehow I just dont believe that ..... and came away feeling that I had in some way intruded on her privacy or that I was just trying to keep in touch with someone who really didnt have a place in life for me.... Gradually I dropped all attempts to keep in touch.... needless to say the relationship has suffered on account of this and probably my friend and me are wiser for it .... 

Call it anything you want, in my book, an unresponded message is a definite snub... and one that I will take very seriously and not bother about that person later on... now I know sometimes it could be a myriad reasons why the person didnt respond (including not getting it)... but I go with what "my gut" tells me... is the person not responding because they genuinely dont want to or because they have not got the opportunity to... and in this analysis I go by past experience.......

Having said that I am myself guilty of such behaviour... sometimes in a busy day you really dont respond to all the messages you get... and you ignore the less important ones.... hmm... less important ones..... thats it...

Obama... now why do i feel elated.... perhaps it is because I see a good honest man triumph and I feel good... or the fact that he is a self made man that gives him the leverage in my eyes.....or the fact that he cries .... or that he loves his family...

i have always found Obama to be inspiring... in his story, his presence, his speeches, his conduct...

some of the recent news events have convinced me that there is indeed a God... thank you for that Sir....even though I may crib now and then....

is it that difficult? does it have to be that monumental? is challenge common in all tasks?

A trip to the Chor Bazaar