The power of two.

There are so many combinations in the world that are just meant-to-be. The things that just cannot do on their own. Like the very basic things that we take for granted but are the very basis of life, only if there is air can there be fire, only if there is fire or heat can there be water, and only if there is water can there be life.

There are patterns all around us but we are too busy to notice. Busy with our own mental games and not even the happy kind but tragic scenarios that we love to create in our heads also known as worrying. I mean we are such obsessive beings. I am too, but I have learnt of be aware of my slips from reality and once you create this habit of staying in the here and now, you honestly won’t find time to over-think about the there and then.

The more we are in the moment, the better we see things and by that I mean the fascinating world of patterns – from human behaviour to the physical laws of the universe, there are set patterns. One such combination of ingredients that can make or break anything in life is time and action. This is nothing new they have been saying it for ages; strike the iron when its hot. The statement seems out-dated because none of us today would know where is the iron and what to strike it with. So I just changed it completely to my own understanding. I would say time is my ally and silence is my weapon.

If time and action are one of the greatest combinations then it is only meaningful to see the alternate as time and inaction because for anyone who knows the value of timing also knows the value of silence or inaction. It might seem like negligence or ignorance but choosing to be silent can be of use depending upon the circumstances. To put it in clearer context imagine time as your ally now all you have to do is wait. And when you wait it turns your silence into a weapon.

For some reason I am using the word weapon to signify the power of silence because I think we have officially reached a point in human evolution where weapon is seen as the most useful thing to have. After all as animals, survival is the most basic of our needs and weapons are a prerequisite for survival. But to those who know it by experience it goes without saying, silence can be overwhelming. And it is powerful when directed the right way. Silence and time – one as a weapon the other as an ally, now that is the power of two.

Consumer or consumed?

I was having one of those days where I got stuck with a random thought and could not really get out of my head until I started paying attention to all that I was missing on; life around me.

We do, really, get stuck in a mental-scape and forget that life happens outside the boundaries of our so called inner-world. An appropriate word would be inner-chatter. We get consumed in our thoughts and not all of them are good, and many are just useless or irrelevant.

But that day I had an epiphany, consumption is a human problem. We either consume a lot or get consumed, there is no moderation. Look at the planet, look at human history, look at us as a species today – needs and wants can be categorised as consumption. As humans we do not just want more, we want to keep stocks as well.

For instance every other animal lives in its surrounding without modifying it much. And when hunger strikes, they hunt otherwise they just sleep or play. But as humans, modification of the natural has gone too far, it has reached a point where coal is seen as lesser than a diamond while we know that, one is an actual source of energy and the other just a stone. This is where we are not really doing any justice to the title of most intelligent species on earth.

Having been so indulged in every aspect of life, we are over consuming everything; food, drinks, substances, drugs, technology, information, thoughts, emotions, feelings. Consuming or getting consumed that is where we are.

It is true that all of the aforementioned is readily available now which makes it a little difficult to avoid it completely. But the habit of consumption is not new. And there is an advantage if we just get a little more aware of our consumption. Moving from an automatic mode to a discretionary mode. Choose. I use this word a lot, I do not know how much I am able to use it properly, but I am trying. Life is made of choices and butterfly effect or not, but it goes a long way when we make small changes – ripple effect.

So if you question, what can I possibly do to change anything in the world? Let’s just remember that individuals make up he world and if you can not do anything overt or big then just take a small step and decrease some sort of consumption. It would do wonders for you and definitely for the planet.

Proper food intake; good health. Less drinks, substances, drugs, need I explain? Less technology? Yes, use it and do not let it take over (AI takeover :p ). Less information; yes please, or consume and process it well. Balanced thoughts, emotions, feelings – let them consume you but choose until when. None of it is to be avoided because consumption is natural, but it needs more of our attention. Let’s be conscious of it.

That one reservation.

Oh gosh! the amount of things that we keep reserved for ourselves and the things that keep us reserved could simply be put out in display to the world and anyone could do a psychological analysis of our true reality kind of like in the movies. It is by small things that the character reserves and the reservations the character holds that simply defines the entire character arc and even the progression of the story-line.

With that being said and after sounding like a pseudo-psychologist I am going try to sound very realistic yet stick to the theme of movies and story-lines. So, with things reserved and reservations holding us back there is that one reservation that every movie has, actually come to think of it, everything has that one place reserved for itself at the end.

The end is where it all… begins again. Result oriented as we are today the only thing we would like to reserve is a “perfect” ending and the only thing that holds us back is the fear of not getting the “perfect” ending. Fear of failure? Nope! Failure is the first step on the ladder to success or they say. Then why fear it? It is the ending we all want, not the first step or even the second but the last one; the climax.

And as cliche as it sounds there is no ending without a story. Build a story or even better let a story unfold itself so that an ending builds upon it.

In my opinion we are directing the ending so much that we do not eat to eat, we eat to lose or to gain weight. We do not talk to talk, we talk to get something done or undone. We do not breathe to breathe, well…. no…. wait, we do not breathe at all it just happens. Had breathing been a task I am sure by now some of us would have taken the time to get it over with to get to where they want to be. But where is that exactly? No one has time and that is okay, people are busy in turn productive or destructive. Either way, we are just busy human-beings.

I am not against the awareness that one must have for repercussions of their actions. I am against the reservation that results could bring specially to those who deserve or need the freedom. While on the other hand there are some who do not think of repercussions at all they are excluded from this just because good or bad (destructive) they can not be stopped (by just words, that is).

So, at a personal level why have that one reservation hold you back when you clearly have the ability to think things through (to a point in future that is not yet a reality). After all, failure is the first step on the ladder of success. The ending is reserved anyway.

P.S. This might have sprung out of a positive self-talk haha.

Just Ask.

Be a helping hand whenever necessary. Assisting others is not a only a good deed but also a good opportunity to learn new things and of all the best things you get to know a new person.

Reaching out to some who is in need of help is quite important but reaching out to those who do not let others see what they are going through is important, necessary and unfortunately difficult. In this case though, we can not help strangers as much as our near and dear. But then again help is help.

Reaching out to people in crises is something that a lot of others would do too. But it is the ones suffering in silence who need to be assured that help comes if they would just ask for it. It is neither wrong nor a sign of weakness to ask for a little help.

Everyone feels lost and stranded at some point in time but it is better to reach out to others because only then the help arrives. Same goes for reaching a certain place or point in life or when you really really want something, ask for it with conviction.

If you want to get from point A to B, you will have to walk it out. If you want clarity of mind, you will have to talk it out. If you want to be free, you will have to let it go. If you want something new, you will have toss the old out the window. If you are looking for luck, fortune, better quality of life, you will have to have a positive outlook.

It all depends on how you reach out to the universe!

How Profound?

Profound, anything that is even near this word is just going to be extreme. Anything defined by it would be of quite importance. And for sure that will lead on to having a huge impact.

Can same rule apply to the quality of our thoughts? I came across a piece of information that suggests that human brain is simply so strong that a single thought, if turned into a belief, could bring about the chemical changes mimicking the exact changes that take place when something happens for real.

It is exactly like being tricked into thinking that a massive tragedy has taken place, we would be extremely affected by the kind of thoughts we create after hearing about the tragedy (even when we have just heard about it).

Or in case when we watch someone else go through it (even if it is in a movie) like, while watching the movie – About Time – the moment Tim’s wife suggest they have a third child and Tim realises that it would bring an end to his time travel meetings with his deceased father, we feel for him because we create the Kind of thoughts he has.

“Kind of thoughts” this is important because thoughts have a profound effect on us and these thoughts get manifested into emotions and behaviours even before we know it.

Old sayings like “मन के हारे हार है, मन के जीते जीत” (man ke jeete jeet man ke hare har) meaning that if we think we’d lose, we’d definitely lose. On the other hand if we’d think that no matter what we will win, we will win indeed.

Need I say more the brain washing of many a people has created useless ruckus all around us. They do not need any mention. Some of them are in power and some are just sitting inside their bedrooms planning their next conniving actions. If “they” can have enough will power or lets say the control over their brains that, they can follow a single thought and take such extreme steps; completely illegal, completely inhumane, mostly stupid, just because they believe they are right, why should the rest of us stop our powerful positivity?!

As it seems the good does not manifest easily because the ones who know enough, keep on questioning themselves and the ones who do not know it too well…. we all know where that ends! It has come to this, we shall learn from the rebels and the extremists that believing is more important than having to know it all. But lets do it in a very good way!

How profoundly does the quality of your thoughts affect you now?

Sanctuary

There is No place like home – your own place, your sanctuary. Lets stop the felling of trees and exploitation of natural resources so that our fellow earthlings. Can I call them that? I mean that way animals can live happily too.

Imagine one day the trees enter our homes and take all our furniture because, we took it form them in the first place and that too without asking. One thing industrialisation brings is the pollution and it is the worst. Is it worth the development? Should it even be termed development if it is not sustainable?

But there are pristine places far away from the chaos of cities, chaos is bearable, the pollution is just deadly.

This is the most favourite shot of mine. I mean look at that tree. It just called to me.             Let it talk to you too. Oh the blue sky and the silhouette – just wow!

 

Above the clouds it is clearer!

Just some shots I took from a moving vehicle while I was going to my cousins wedding. Hometown… Oh, how I miss it 🙂

Follow or lead?

New Sensation: Describe your favorite fashions from days of yore or current trends you think are stylin’.

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The golden olden days of simplicity, I can recall a time of Polaroid pictures before all the selfies and duck faces became trendy. People used to dress up for comfort and mostly because they had a lot of work to do. There was some sort of physical work even for the white-collar workers. You can not walk kilo-meters in tight skinny jeans you’d need something a lot looser. Styles last longer as they are unique, but fashion fades away with seasons that is what I think.

Every place and occasion has its own dress-code. Some have been forced into the society and some are just a general idea of what to wear and when. Oh not to forget some are even based on cultural beliefs; some bare more than the others, some people just believe that colours and patterns are everything. We tend to come in the latter category. In India fashion might be influenced by the modernism but it still finds a way to be in touch with the nature; plants, animals etc.

I was one of the lucky ones (in my opinion) to have born before the HD era, as I like to call it, everything is supposed to be so immaculate these days. Guys have all sorts of hairstyles nowadays and while on one hand everyone is into bearded look with a gym-built body and slim fit clothes, I choose to stay unique. I keep a beard but the way I like it or when I feel like it. I can not do with too much hair – what a hassle!?  – And I am very lean so forget about clothes ever fitting tightly ha! I am me and that is my style.

I always ask myself should I follow the trends or should I be the odd one out? Being the odd one out lets me be the trend-setter (at least in my imagination). So like I said I was born before the HD era and what my parents bought was what I wore but my mum does say that I have always been very choosy which finally led them to let me buy my own stuff. And even when, at times, they did not like what I chose to wear they finally accepted it as my habit of trying to stand out. So yeah I have always had it my own way which was never the trending thing.

School is easy here, you get a uniform it does not get simpler than that but in college, well, there you have to choose a look for yourself; either be the one who wears formals or casuals or pajamas or tees and pants, and I think I did good enough. But all the guys had such set hair with gels and pomades and what not. I never used any such chemicals and still have to deal with my straight hair falling on my forehead all the time.

I have never shied away from trying colours though. I am the one who could wear a yellow shirt one day, a blue jacket the next day or just stick to the plain old black and grey. But that is all about the recent times and being here in the city. As I belong to the northern hills (sounds like a place from some story) I belong to a very traditional and culturally deep state/city. There we have the usual Indian attire, which nowadays is only seen during family-functions in the cities, but is very common to see people wearing them all the time in those hilly-villages or any non-city area for that matter. I have worn such clothes a mere two or three times.

Left pic -Nice view of the lake and me being me with my thoughts.       Right pic – me again, too much sun, but the sculptures behind me are a good example of traditional attire of farmers of the northern planes. It was my first time visiting this place so I did act like a tourist 😛

So you see east meets west in the above picture, as far as the clothes are concerned, there are lots of choices and they are ever so evolving. Stylish! or Fashionable? But actually, to follow or to lead is the real question!

 

 

 

 

Life is not cotton candy.

Life’s a Candy Store:  You get to be a 6-year-old kid again for one day and one day only — plan your perfect 24 hours. Where do you go, what do you do, and with whom?

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Life is neither a candy nor a candy store. It is, if anything else, a ride, a race, a journey of sorts. But even in a journey we take breaks – in life there is no halting. Yes, it has its own way of getting on to our nerves, keeping us occupied and god does it slip away minute by minute while we waste our time on unnecessary things, people, arguments and matters. Shut those things down otherwise It will get daunting.

On a very brighter and lighter note though, life is one big opportunity to make bigger things happen and not just for ourselves – animals do that already. Are we not the “superior” species? I think, we should do things for others too – selfless service. We need to be different and make an impact at least for our own sake. UN announced its global goals and bigger goals are met when smaller things are taken care of.

I get bored so very often and so I try to keep it simple but interesting. Only then can life be a candy store and that too not for just a day. We will get all the flavours in just one place. Hmmm… turns out I was wrong, life is a candy store after all – colourful and enticing. So close yet so far out of reach and sometimes in abundance – trick or treat? – that is life’s question for us.

Anyway, on to a completely different topic. (Not so different because it is about a journey and life is a journey hehehe).

I clicked these pictures from my phone… was again on an offiial work trip – Now I understand why working-professionals are always so busy? Work just eats up a lot of time. But that is no problem, especially when it lets you to venture into places with views as follows.

The tiny tiny bus 🙂

Being artsy – perspective picture.

A lonely shack. Them views though! 😛

How poetic? 🙂 My favourite of all.

In to the mountains, on a train 😉 equals beautiful!

Oh, the setting sun. See you tomorrow, it says.