I'M FREE

When I was in my primary school, I grew with the very simple thought in my mind that ‘God is one’, but living my life in such a multicultural environment in India always confused me as a kid and I used to wonder if whatever my teacher taught in school was logical or not? I could hardly understand any religion at that time, but while walking across the main bazaar street I used to see- a temple, a gurdwara, a shrine, a mosque and a church, all on my way back to the house from the school, and everywhere I used to see different people praying. Different?? What different?? You might be thinking what I meant by saying them different. Yes, from the perspective of the primary school going kid, I had unleashed the harsh reality of our society as they all looked different in what they were wearing, they all were praying in their own different ways and postures, and even the gods they were praying were all different.

One day on a fine evening, while my mother went to the market to buy the grocery, I stayed back with my Christian land-lady. I used to call her- “Aunt Clara”. Aunt Clara gave me biscuits and Bournvita-milk, and told me to keep quiet for couple of minutes as she wanted to pray to the god. I followed what she said at the same time I kept myself busy with my special snacks offered by Aunt Clara, but I was watching her while she was busy praying. When she was over with it, I went to the picture she was praying and I asked her- Is this Krishan Bhagwan(God)??( Krishna is a famous Hindu god). She smiled at me and said- “No” then, I told her that my teacher in school told me that all Gods are only the same and every god is Lord Krishna only. She smiled on what I said and then she told me that this is ‘Lord Jesus’, pointing out on the picture, which I was referring earlier, and that confused me even more about the concept of-“God is one”. The very next day, I narrated the same incident to my teacher, who taught me this concept. On listening my complete story she also first smiled and then she said-“God is one only but different people call the almighty with their own different names”, and I got more confused, then I asked her that I saw the pictures, its not just the name, they all looked different. My teacher laughed and she said Ok, and she said still the “God is one”.

Few years later as I grew up, I understood the big picture but I admit, the concept of “God is one” still remained a mystery. I found the concept totally bookish, though I met a lot of people talking about it but practically, there wasn’t even a single set of evidence that came in front of my eyes to believe it. At the same time, I had spent my life in a nice open environment where everyone is treated equally. Though, the concept of “God is one” always made me hard to believe it, I inculcated a strong belief of equal status for all the Gods and religions. It made a strong impression in my mind and I started believing that every god from different religion is so special, and in fact, I started treating each one of them in a way their people do. Even today, I’m not sure with the idea of “God is one” but one thing I’m really sure is each and every religion is special, and it’s our moral duty to give equal respect to all of them. As a strong impact of my belief, today when I pray to God, I pray all of them, and I pray to them in the exact same way the people from different religions do. I don’t know what a person who believes in all religions is called but, I don’t want to be called by the name of a specific religion, I want to be called as free. Yes, I’m free. My soul feels the real freedom and energy within when I say the Hindu Gayatri Mantra- “Om Bhoor Bhuwah Swaha, Tat Savitar Varenyam Bhargo Devasaya Dheemani Dhiyo Yo Naha Prachodayat” or the famous Sikh Mool Mantra- “Ik onkar, satnam, karta purakh, nirbhau, Nir vair, aakaal murat, ajooni se bhang, Gur parsaad. Jap. Aad sach jugaad sach, Hai bhi sach naanak hosi bhi sach” or the holy Islamic and eternal lines- “La ilaha illallah Muhammad-ur-Rasulullah” or the Lord’s Prayer- “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen…” They all impart me with positive vibes and I feel really blessed to be blessed from not just one god but all the gods. It makes me feel really good, I enjoy all the religions and their festivals. There are so many inspiring stories from each one of them, it inspires me to be a good soul and help me to explore what I really want when I’m in a difficult situation. I love all the people around me for not just because of their religion but because what they are, as I have already crossed my line of being associated with any single religion but with all of them. In my soul, I’m just free. Today morning I read an interesting article and it had this really amazing saying of a sufi poet called Rabia Basri. I could very easily connect to what Rabia said. So, here it is-

In my soul, there is a temple, a shrine, a mosque, a church, where I kneel. Prayer should bring us to an altar, where no walls or names exist.

Is there not a region of love where the sovereignty is, illumined nothing, where ecstasy gets poured into itself, and becomes lost, where the wind is fully alive, but has no mind or, body?

In my soul, there is a temple, a shrine, a mosque, a church that dissolve, that dissolve in God. ~ Rabia Basri (A.D.801) 

*****SPREAD THE MESSAGE OF LOVE, FEEL FREE. RESPECT ALL RELIGIONS AND LOVE ALL GODS*******

NOCTURNAL CREATIVITY

I woke up late, I rushed to work.

I spent the day at office,

I’m tired and I’m hungry.

I feel like sleeping, I take few naps sitting.

After the dinner, the mind is still so tired.

The body wants to relax,

I switch on my laptop.

I sit on my comfortable chair,

The tiredness starts flying away.

The clock ticks forward,

It’s midnight again.

The eyes are lighten up,

The keyboard is clicking again.

The mind and the soul are together again.

Thought, after the another,

Mind is boggling with so many of them,

Soul is raring to express,

The eyes and the fingers are in perfect sync.

Words revolve, creativity evolves.

Gratification follows,

Mind feels free to fall asleep,

But the next midnight it’s those vibes again,

The volcanic eruption of thoughts is the same,

Creativity knocks at the midnight again,

It’s the Nocturnal Creativity again!!


P.S. Every night when I'm back from the work, I'm tired and I feel like NOT writing anything, but as the clock ticks past the midnight I'm fresh like a new born baby. There is a sudden eruption of thoughts in my mind & the soul feels like expressing them all. This happens almost every midnight or past it, and a new post on this blog is evolved thats why I named it- "Nocturnal Creativity". Do share if you too have the same symptoms ;-)

POPEYE-THE SAILOR MAN

When I was a kid, I had my fascination for the cartoons a lot, and my favorite show was “Tom & Jerry”, the world’s best duo undoubtedly!! Later, with the evolution of cable TV in India, I got introduced to a brand new cartoon channel called the ‘cartoon network’. At that time I was still in the primary school and I used to feel really happy about the fact that there is one channel on the television, which shows the cartoons whole day. During my cartoon network days I got to know “Popeye-The Sailor Man”, Popeye was an interesting character for me, and very soon I became addicted to his show.

Popeye had some really catchy things that had real positive effects on me and my friends. Popeye, the cartoon character was simply amazing, was really strong, intelligent and honest. Popeye will fight the bad things, and fight to save his love and friends all the time. Popeye will have the green vegetables, his very own special ‘Spinach’, to gain instant power to fight his enemies. Popeye had those big strong forearms and he will wear a cool sailor costumes.

 

I remember, I started eating spinach after watching Popeye, and I used to tell my parents that I will eat spinach and become really strong like him one day J. Now when I’m a young man, I still like Popeye, though I don’t watch it, but I’m sure all kids still love him. Popeye is a really cool cartoon character, and surely a role model to lots of kids like me, especially boys. So, I thought to write this post to give tribute to this amazing character and may it be with all the generation to come, and inspire them to eat the right food and to do the good things. KUDOS to “POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN”!!

P.S. This post is dedicated to ‘Popeye’- the cartoon character and the sweet childhood memories it gave me.

PLEASE LOVE YOUR HEART

Few days ago while I was working in the office just as any other routine working day, I heard a sudden cry. I turned around in the direction of the sound and saw my colleague weeping at some distance in her cubicle. Her face was all red, it looked as if she was shedding tears in some deep pain, and she could hardly speak anything as her voice was choking in distress. The whole work bay went into an unknown silent-mode. Everyone was confused and curious at the same time, but no one knew what has just happened. While I started heading towards her, couple of her girl-friends surrounded and started asking her- What happened? What happened? I took a glass of water while moving towards her and till the time I reached her desk, she had only uttered very few words in her low weeping voice that no one had understood. I gave her the glass of water, she drank a sip or two and then said- “my mother died”!! She again started crying in deep pain of loss of her mother.

Before anyone could ask her anything, we took her outside of the office work area and then called back from her cell-phone to her relatives. We found out that her family was having the tea at about 4pm in the evening and all of a sudden her mother had cardiac arrest and within 10 minutes of it, she died. My colleague left the office for the airport along with one of her friend, but all of us went into a state of shock. Whole day, I was really upset of what I had witnessed. I got to know that her mother was in her mid 40’s and she had never complained about any heart disease in her whole life, but all of a sudden she was gone. I felt really scared about the death and I was shocked by the fact that- how the heart-attack can suddenly take away a human life? I became worried if something like this has happened to me, what if instead of her mother it would have been mine? Even a small thought of it was making my blood cold and turning my face pale. I started searching the internet in the desperation of knowing everything about the heart diseases, and I found- billionheartsbeating.

Billionheartsbeating is a campaign against the heart diseases. I found that it’s a combined initiative of Apollo Hospital and Times of India aiming at reducing the heart diseases to the null. Billionheartsbeating has all the general information what one should know to avoid the heart diseases, it has all the common heart problems people suffer, their solutions and 92 ways to keep your heart healthy. The best part about this very unique campaign is- it doesn’t talk about the medication or the science behind the prevention of the heart diseases, but the practical commonsensical ways in which we can keep the heart disease that claims many lives annually, at bay.

Good news is you can be the part of this very noble initiative by taking the pledge on Billionheartsbeating. I request all of you to be part of it and take the pledge to keep your heart healthy and most important not just that- with every pledge you take Apollo Hospital will do a free heart-screening at its check-up camp. So, you are not just keeping your heart healthy but also providing a free checkup to someone who is poor and needy. You can ask the experts your queries and you can upload your videos if you think you know the ways to keep your heart at its best. First thing is first, please click here- Billionheartsbeating and take the pledge to keep your heart healthy, and before taking the pledge please make sure that you leave a comment here saying that- “I’m taking this pledge”, so that I can keep a track of who all are being a part of this magnificent campaign with me. In the end, I just want to say that- Heart is for love, heart is for joy, spread the love, spread the joy by keeping your heart good and healthy!!   

#billionhearts

P.S. Its my request to you- please start loving your life, please start loving your heart. Let us all, take this pledge to stay fit and eradicate all heart diseases from our lives……Heart is a symbol of love, if heart dies love dies, lets do it for the love of our life.  


***BE A PART OF IT & INSPIRE OTHERS TO JOIN YOU*************

KEEP HEALTHY, EAT HEALTHY

The perfect way to start your Sunday mornings is to have a perfect breakfast. Its really essential to eat the right food to be on top of your health. I strongly believe-“a healthy mind only comes with the healthy food”. Considering the fact that how busy life we all are living, its very difficult to focus on the few minute things in our lives like the food. Especially, when you are living in a country like India, which is a paradise for the foodies and the food is really tempting, it is really hard to resist the not so healthy food. Moreover, the demography and the culture are such that there are only few choices to make from the really healthy food items but, there is good news.

The good news is people are getting more aware about the healthy living and especially about the healthy foods. There has been a sudden outburst of healthy and fat-free food items in the Indian retail market and the sales are high as never before. The fitness industry is at its all time peak and it’s expected to rise further. People are getting more aware about the heart diseases, the cardiac risks and the diabetes. India is certainly became the diabetic capital of the world and we have to take special attention to it before the situation goes out of hand.

On a lighter note, its not that everyone needs to follow a strict exercise regimes and diet plans to live a healthy life style, but it’s just following the basic things and making the right choices while you are eating, and we all know nothing in excess is good for the body. I’m also kind of focused about my health, and every now-n-then I try to keep it healthy. Today, its been a perfect start, I feel blessed to have my delicious healthy breakfast. You can see in the pictures- I had brown-bread veg. cheese sandwiches with loads of raw vegetables, mixed fruit juice and a glass of mango-shake (without the sugar)…..hmmmm yummy J. So, stay fit, eat good food and have a good life, ENJOY!!