A heart that has faith

That day my coach asked me to dive in the swimming pool,

All my friends were encouraging me and calling me “cool”,

I smiled and waved at them but when I looked at the pool my heart sank,

The voice of Fear told me not to jump as the pool is deeper than a water tank,

I was nervous and cold and took a step back,

The voice of Love asked me what did I lack?

I said to Love that I was really scared and Fear was right in asking me to hold back,

Love said to me that was untrue and only cowards like Fear took a step forward and two steps back,

“If I am in your heart” said Love “then why should you fear, because if you fall I will hold you”,

Then Fear said “If you believe in Love then you will be all alone as I will leave you”,

I closed my eyes and took a leap of faith, I jumped in the pool with love and without any fear in my head,

Love said to me “The one who has faith is never alone as I am always here”, I triumphed and everyone clapped.

Diwali - The Festival of Lights, Hope and Love

Diwali (also known as Deepawali) is the Festival of Lights, Sweets and Relationships. Hindus celebrate this festival as the day when Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya while Jains celebrate this festival to mark the attainment of moksha by Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism. Diwali is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. The most significant aspect of this festival is to light the earthen lamps (i.e. Diyas) on dark nights and to decorate homes with colorful lights. This is a common practice which is followed in most parts of India during Diwali. This is the reason that this festival is called Deepawali, i.e. the festivals of Deep (lamps). Diyas are lit on Diwali to indicate that even one beam of light can reduce the darkness and create light and hope in our lives. We celebrate Diwali by distributing sweets and savouries to our families, friends and neighbors to express our gratitude for their presence in our lives. Everyone comes together to light the Diyas and to decorate their home with colorful lights. Most people do Rangoli (sacred designs drawn on floor in India during festivals and auspicious occasions) by creating beautiful designs on the floor with flowers or colors. This festival marks the message of love, hope, goodwill and family unity.

Before this festival begins we clean our homes and get rid of the clothes or other stuff that we don’t need or use by donating them to the needy. This practice signifies the importance of getting rid of unnecessary clutter from our homes and minds and giving away what we don’t need to those who need it.

Most importantly Diwali signifies that one must never lose hope. No matter how dark the night is one Diya is enough to penetrate its boundless darkness and create light. Similarly, no matter how difficult a situation is, we must never forget to light the Diya of hope and peace in our lives. Just as a single Diya is enough to light the dark night, a single ray of hope is enough to get through the most difficult times of life.

On this auspicious occasion of Deepawali/Diwali I wish all my readers have a happy, healthy and prosperous life which is always full of hope. I also wish to express my gratitude to you all for showing your love to my blog by reading my articles. My message to you all on this occasion is to keep that one Diya of hope always lit so no darkness can ever affect your life. This Diwali, let us spread light, hope and love in everyone’s life.

Changing your life is a Marathon not a Sprint

I read this quote one morning about treating life as it was a marathon and not a sprint. These words got me thinking and so I decided to write about it. When we focus on bringing about a change in our life to make it better, we often start with great enthusiasm and somewhere in between we lose our zeal. Have you ever wondered why this happens every time we try to bring some positive change in our lives? This happens because we treat our lives as if it was a sprint where we have to run fast to win and we are so focused on not losing that we forget to enjoy the race. But if we treat our lives as a marathon and appreciate the scenery and things around us while we slowly yet consistently move towards the finish life, then it would be far easier to achieve our goals.

Every day many of us feel bored and demotivated when we are working towards our goals or towards making a positive change in our lives. It can be frustrating not to see immediate results and that often leads to a feeling of monotony and boredom. However, if we are consistent and patient during  our journey to reach our goals, then we will automatically reach the finish line of the race without further ado.

Life is a journey to be enjoyed and thus we must not be overly fixated at the end result as much as on our journey. It is the lessons that we learn and the moments that we cherish during this journey which makes the race interesting. At the end of the race there is only one winner yet all others who participated are not losers if they enjoyed the process of completing the race. The feeling of accomplishment does not come by winning a race rather it comes from knowing that you went all out and completed the race. I am not suggesting that one should not be competitive. All I am saying is that one must not be so focused on the goals that he/she forgets to enjoy the journey that he/she goes through to reach the final destination.

When we have fitness goals, we are usually focused on the amount of weight that we lost and if we don’t lose quickly we often feel frustrated. Rather one must focus on the changes that the body is going through internally (apart from the obvious external changes) during the weight loss journey rather than the pounds that are lost or gained. Notice the change in your stamina, the number of stairs you are able to climb without feeling breathless, the improvement in your moods, etc. Don’t focus on the weight as that is just a number rather focus on the positive effects of exercise and food in your body, mind and spirit. When you do this, you will surely reach your goals without feeling burnt out and dejected.

“It’s important to remember that each footstrike carries you forward and not backward. And every time you put on your running shoes you are different in some way than you were the day before” (a quote on Pinterest). Enjoy the journey and the results will follow. Always remember it’s your journey and your goals so stop worrying about others perception and focus on your path. 

Striking a Balance - Technology and Nature

The child comes from school, drops his bag and runs to his tablet/iPad/mobile phone. The husband and wife are back home from work and as soon as they arrive home, after exchanging hellos with their family, the television is immediately switched on and remains on till it's time to hit the sack. We have all become slaves of technology. Although a lot has been written and said about this topic, I chose to write about this as one of my readers requested me to pen down my views on how technology has killed our quest for nature.

When I was growing up, we didn't have mobile phones and tablets yet we had a very interesting childhood. We would come home from school, finish our homework, have some snacks and then we would go outdoors to play games. Television and radio was a very important part of our growing up yet it would be switched on only for 2-3 hours in a day. Now the children of this present day generation may wonder how we spent our time if we didn't play games on computers or tablets and if we didn't surf the internet or message people on WhatsApp or Facebook all day? Apart from playing outdoors, we used to spend our time reading books or comics (remember Tinkle and Archies) and we used to engage in conversations with our neighbors, our family and friends. That is how we gained knowledge and learnt life lessons and values. We didn’t have google but we had encyclopedias and elders to help us solve our queries. How many people take their children out on nature trips instead of malls these days? When I go to a park, I see less children than the ones that I see in the malls. Our parents used to take us to Juhu beach in Mumbai or to some parks and gardens on weekends. We really enjoyed playing on the sand, water and grass. 

Technology is very important and has undoubtedly opened up many opportunities and new avenues in all aspects of life. But it is important to strike a balance in life for overall personality development. Instead of always going to the mall, take your children to parks or beaches. We learn so much from the trees and the sea. It is also very important for our health to go out in the nature and spend some time with our loved ones or simply ourselves. The walks in nature inspire creativity and positivity in a person and releases stress and tension. Nowadays even our exercise regimes are enclosed within the four walls of an air conditioned gymnasium. We are so comfortable indoors that we just don't feel like stepping outdoors to get anything done. I have a few suggestions for my gadget loving friends that may help them strike a balance:

1. Sometimes we can go outdoors for a walk or jog or swim or play a sport instead of working out in the gymnasium. I am not suggesting that one should not work out in a gym, but a little change is good sometimes for your body and mind.
2. Instead of looking at your phone while walking on the road or sitting in a waiting room, let us engage in conversation with our neighbors and other people sitting in that waiting room. Many great friendships are born while commuting in a train or a bus. 
3. One should read books as each book teaches us some valuable lessons. 
4. We should focus on developing new skills every year and develop new hobbies and interests to keep our mind happy and healthy.
5. When we go on a vacation, try to get away from your mobile and tablets for a while and instead of taking pictures to post on Facebook and Instagram, build memories.
6. Go to the park and beaches instead of going to the malls sometimes. It’s good to get some fresh air instead of inhaling the carbon dioxide emitted from the air conditioners.

We may love machines but we are not machines and that we must never forget. Don't let your world be trapped in the small screen of a tablet or a mobile phone. The world is much more than gadgets, there are many mysteries of life which can only be unlocked in nature and with human touch.

The Bias of the Unbiased

We often hear people say they are impartial and believe in equality of gender and races, yet they choose pink for a girl and blue for a boy. Isn't it strange that the so-called “feminists” are always discussing about how a seat should be reserved in a bus or train for a woman and how it is important that a woman should be allowed to skip a line full of men as she is a “woman”? If you want equality then why do you want this special treatment and reservations? Why should the color pink be branded as a girl’s color? To me this is bias and not feminism. These days it seems that women are fighting (in the name of gender equality) for gender superiority and not gender equality. A Bollywood actress says something about the opposite sex and she becomes a “feminist icon” overnight. What is wrong with us and why are we always ready to start an argument or fight with or against the opposite sex just because we are women? There are laws to protect women safety such as dowry prohibition laws and laws against cruelty on women, etc. If we believe in gender equality then why don't the so called feminists fight for a law to protect husbands from cruelty by their wives and her peers? There are many households where the men are ill-treated by the wife and her peers but that woman is considered as a strong woman in our society. 

The time has come to fight for gender equality in its true sense and not in the sense that we have been doing so far. Women are not weak and they don't need reservations of seats while traveling or being allowed to jump a line full of men just because they are women. We are already standing shoulder to shoulder with men in all areas of life. So as women, let's fight for what is right. The modern woman needs to understand that the laws are for her protection and not for giving her the wrong advantage of harassing a man. 

Similarly, we have a very big bias about the color of someone's skin and we easily label and judge people based on their color or race. Just because a person is dark and has a strong built why do we consider him dangerous or unapproachable? The people who pretend to be modern and cool also judge others based on the color of their skin and religion. In many countries, employees’ remuneration packages are determined by the color of their passports and not their qualifications and skills. Yet, such organizations and people call themselves impartial and unbiased. We fail to realize the impact such judgments and opinions have on the confidence of an entire community. When we as a society fail to accept blacks and browns as one of us, we create a market for fairness and whitening products to generate profits. Then we debate about how such products should be banned. Why can't we accept black as black and brown as brown just the way we openly accept white as white? After all, it's just a color not a parameter that defines a person’s character.

Most of the times we don't even realize how biased we have become in all the choices we make. We should stop having a bias when we call ourselves unbiased. In my opinion, the real modern man or woman is one who accepts people as they are and treats them with equal respect, whether it is a man, a woman or a eunuch and whether he is black, brown or white. That is the person I would consider an unbiased person. As humans we err and that is all right as long as we strive not to judge, we can all survive.

As Gautam Buddha said “Until he has unconditional and unbiased love for all beings, man will not find peace”.