Friendship...

As the friendship day is nearing this to all my dear friends who read my blog, my way of wishing them HAPPY FRIENDSHIP's DAY

How do you exactly define the word 'FRIENDSHIP'? Who is a friend? How can one define a friend? Many of us think that friends are just for merry making and to pass away time! Friends are just for fun, playing pranks and hanging out and partying! But is friendship limited to only that? I personally feel that friends are for support! They are your strength, they ate your safety vault of secrets,they are your sandbags to vent out your frustration, they are your eye openers, they are your defenders and lastly they are your mirror who can reflect your true self, your true potential and your capabilities!

Yes you may think is this a defination of a friend or a life partner? Yes this is friendship! You learn a lot from it! Your friend can tell you the right and wrong in a language understood by you. He very well knows how you feel and how your your mood swings. He is the one who understands you better than your parents! Yes! There are many things that a friend can tell you and you won't even feel offended if he taunts at the reality. But when the same thing (which the friend told) is told to us by our parents we easily get irritated and frustrated! Why? Don't you love your parents? Yes you do! You accept it openly but hardly anyone accepts openly that they love and care for their friends! Actually it is supposed to be felt and not told! Friends speak out their love,anger,frustration via actions and not verbally! Your best friend is the one who can see the pain in your eyes while the world is fooled by your smile. Friendship does not include the timed and decided talks but it includes helping and caring. A true friend may not meet or call you daily but while going to bed he just prays to God for your wellbeing. Thats true...

Actually I didn't believe in the concept of BEST FRIEND at first. But now I do believe. There are 1-2 best friends for everyone. It with those two people whom you can share all things and reveal your true self! They are the one who will slap you in anger but will be the first one who will wipe your tears. They may not talk to you daily but when they talk, they talk endlessly. They may not give you gifts on your birthday but one thing they can give you is a big bear hug. That immaterial gift you will always cherish! They will be the one who will care a lot about you yet pretend that you are a piece of crap for them. Their care and warmth cannot be seen but can only be felt in the heart. When you feel low just think of those idiots and automatically a smile will pop up! Its true!(I know by now you must be thinking of your best friends and then you will laugh at your own self and say VERY TRUE in your mind)

But do we find true friends in this world? Are there friends who like us just because we are unique and we are like us? We claim many people to be out friend but hey the number of friends in your facebook friend list is just the number of acqiantances. Friends are much more than that! Just by posting HAPPY BIRTHDAY on you wall doesn't mean that the person is your friend. In todays world its difficult to guage a friend. Many people use you just for completing their task and after doing so they disgracefully discard you. Trust me there are peole like this. There are people who kick you and go once their aim is fulfilled. Its really rare to get friends. Many of the people become friends just by checking your social status and your bank balance. True friends won't give a damn about your looks but yes will think a lot about your inner self.

From my experience I say that never close the door for friendship. Its the most subtle and the strongest form of relation. Friendship lies above all. Love comes second as friendship is purer, devoid of mushy things and have enough rights to irritate and trouble. There are some limitations in love but in friendship there are none. It is as vast as the Pacific Ocean and limitless like the space yet very close to you. So I would like to tell that don't back out on your friend. Trust them care for them and you will be invincible. No one can distract you nor hurt you as the shield of friendship never wears away. So all the best to my readers and hope you wont take your friends FOR GRANTED. Don't you too feel so? So just hangout with your friend and dare you hurt them...

Taken For Granted...

Hey this post may seem boring but at the end you all will accept the meaning implied in it. I hope you'll think upon it and act accordingly.

We are connected with many people around us. It may be be connecting through social networking sites or connecting with them personally or both. These include many relations which we have given a name. We are related as brothers, friends, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, grandson, granddaughter, mother, father, lover, secret admirer, teacher etc. But sometimes we do things for others inspite of not having any relation. Like we give some change to the beggar or the leftover food to the vagabonds and rouges. Why do we do this? I felt like doing it so i did it is the most common answer. Do we care about these people so much? If yes then imagine our love and care for our closed ones. Logically speaking it should be greater than that received by these non-related people. There lies the twist...

We usually don't bother about the feelings of our loved one when we act or do something. Is it like we care about the people who are less special to us and don't care about special people? Its a common thing. For e.g. we usually tend to sms or reply fast to a new friend than reply to an old friend or to a close person. This is because we think that the old friend or the closed one will understand us and will definitely wait longer. This is what I mean by TAKING FOR GRANTED...

Its not always friends , but it can be your siblings, your parents or any other relative. Most often its the parents or the dearest friend. We say chalta hai re. This is what I'm trying to say that why do we think that its our friend (or mom or dad or any close one), he'll understand us. Why should always the other side understand you? You have no right to think in this fashion! Like you gave a commitment to your parents of spending a Sunday evening with them. They feel so happy and make arrangements a day before. But just an hour before you say my friends called and we are going for a movie, you two carry on! This situation just showed us that how much we take our parents for granted. We never thought about their feeling and emotions. We love them more but care the least about them! Isn't it very strange? We normally meet our collogue almost everyday and if one day he/she is absent we text or call him/her asking about his absence. But we never call or text our close friend whom we have met months before. This doesn't mean that you care less about your friend, it just means that you have TAKEN FOR GRANTED that he/she will be well unless he/she calls and tells us what the problem is. Also when you spend time with your friends and cancel a dinner with your wife you take her for granted. You assume that she will understand you. If she says i didn't like it then the fight starts with I thought atleast you will understand... and the fight goes on. Here also the wife is TAKEN FOR GRANTED. This list of situations never ends...

From the above stated situations I personally believe that you should not take your close ones, your dearest people FOR GRANTED as they are the one who are going to be with you through the ups and downs of life. By taking them for granted you are risking your support! So I feel that never take your parents and close friends for granted. Its rightly said that as book when held close to our eyes cannot be read in the same way we often cannot read the emotions and feelings of our loved ones (unless they tell it to you openly). Thus we take them FOR GRANTED. So my sincere request to you readers is that after reading this post just think upon this fact and then pick up your phone and call your dearest person and talk to him/her. Both of you will feel better... Trust me...

Second Chance...

I'll try my best to make this post as crisp and as short as possible....

Giving someone another chance is the biggest risk in today's world. This gesture of ours is highly influenced by the mistake committed by the person and the serious effects of it. But i feel if the person has really accepted his mistake, is begging for forgiveness then he should be given a second chance. Before taking any decisions you first look at the other side of the coin. Just try to hear and analyse the criminal's point of view. Just put yourself in his place and then think how you would have reacted. Come on, people are bound to make mistakes and yes they might affect you alot but that doesn't mean that you just get angry on them and shut the door!

The ability of giving a second chance differs from person to person. If a person is very vindictive then he might not even look at the other side. Whereas if a person is very analytical he will judge both the sides and then give his verdict. The verdict is controlled by the relation factor. If he/she is your close friend or any other close person you tend to have a soft corner for him/her. But sometime when a close person does a mistake he gets a harsher punishment than any other person can get. It is because we trust that person alot and once trust is broken all seems to fall apart. Also the circumstances govern the verdict. The mood of the person who gives you the verdict also matters alot.

But does that mean that we should not give second chance to people? NO! Its not so. Criminals who have accepted their crime should be given another chance to improve themselves rather than being harshly treated. This kills the leftover innocence and the conscience of that person and that person feels that its useless regretting as he wont get another chance. So criminals should be constantly monitored and some of them do show signs of change. They feel guilty about the act and yes the self introspect and transform their character completely. JIMMY VALENTINE by O. Henry clearly highlights this theme. In his story a very shrewd burglar transforms as he falls in love with a sophisticated lady. So there are incidences which may transform the criminal. The story of DHOOM-2 also highlights the similar ideology. In-fact sage Valmiki who was originally a rouge named Valya transformed himself when he was given a second chance! So why can't we ordinary people transform when given a second chance?

Thus in short I just want to say that please try to analyse the other side. Just try to understand under what circumstances that person acted like that and then judge him/her. Jumping to the conclusion in fit of rage is not the done thing. Sometimes if forgiving deepens the bond that you had shared, you can see amazing changes the person does to prove himself/herself. You will be amazed the way that person will be thankful to you for giving him/her a second chance. So readers if someone has committed a mistake and asked for a second chance, please give him/her another chance...

Chase Your Dreams....

Chase your dreams is a common thing we read or hear. Our guides, our supporters our friends often motivate us by telling that you can do it. Don't worry, all is fine! This is just to encourage us, make us feel that we can do it. But have you ever wondered about the slum dwellers or about the vagabonds? I know nowadays we people don't have time to look after their children they'll observe vagabonds! Ha! But actually we should take some time off and just think upon the fact that have we achieved whatever we wanted? Be it a piece of bread, a new job, a life partner or better grades! Every person has desires and everyone wants to realise their dream. But how often do we follow our dream?

Yeah, people usually give up half way! They think trying more is useless and they just give up, even though they are only a few millimetres away from success! We all have heard the story of the spider and the king. Our mother used to motivate us by this same old story. But we just forget it as we grow up. We also forget our childhood fantasies as we grow up. When we were small we used to dream about all weird things starting from a fireman to a pop-star, from a doctor to an astronaut! But hey why do we think that they are a child's fantasy? Why majority of us say that that dream was nothing but a height of immature and innocent thought. Now its too late! But hey its never too late to start something new!

Here is an interesting thing you can do. Just do a small survey. Ask your parents, grandparents and your elder relatives that what did they dream of becoming in their life when they were a child of six or seven. You will get very different answers. But when you ask them why didn't they realise their dream then all give the same answer that it was just a foolish thought and when you tell them that just try it now and there is a prompt reply that 'ITS TOO LATE!'

But this is life. We get so busy in life and fulfilling all responsibilities that we forget to live for ourselves. Our mother is the best example! She must have done infinite sacrifices for us and her family. Like she must have sacrificed her carefree attitude when she got married. She must have left her job just to take care of us and what does she get in return? Comments like "GO AWAY!" Anyway we'll talk about it someday later. Getting back to the theme, we can clearly see that how people just give up their dream, their aspirations and their ambitions!

I was made to think all this by a vagabond on thane station, platform 10! He was a young guy of about ten or eleven. The 9:20pm Nerul train was scheduled. I and my friend were there on that platform. I wanted to talk to him so he decided to take the next train. But while we were talking the train started. Soon it started gaining lot of speed and momentum(sorry can't help, science student) But just then that vagabond was trying to get it. As it was not the usual office time there was less rush. The train had gained a lot of speed. The boy wanted to get in very desperately. As if it was the last train on earth. He could not run fast to match up the train's speed. He had held the door handle but and was running along with the train, actually he was being dragged by the train like a water skier being pulled by the motor boat. But he still didn't give up! He ran the entire length of the platform, gathered momentum and finally at the edge got in the train! Just like a movie scene! We both thought that this was the end of that chap's life. But yet he had hopes. He didn't give up. Infact if he would have given up he would have badly hurt himself as he would have flung with the same speed as that of the train and might have injured himself badly! But he did it. Yes, when you need success as desperately as air to breathe you achieve it!

So friends that is what I want to say. Never give up chasing your dream. Pursue it. Realise it! APJ Abdul Kalam, former president of India, said that 'Dreams are not things which you see when you sleep but they are things which don't allow you to sleep.' Indeed a lot of depth in that line! So friends I say that just don't waste your talent. Its never to start something new. Infact its better to try than to regret later. Life gives you opportunities. Make best use of them as when they come they may seem small but when they go they look large.

So just go chase your dream....

Your Destination is Still Far.....

This is my first post. I hope u like it.

This is a very strange but a real life story. It was the IIT techfest at IIT-B this year. I and one of my friend had gone there. we really enjoyed the whole fest. The exhibitions were simply outstanding. u can clearly make out a difference between a normal engineer and an IITian! Its not that I'm advertising but its that I'm highlighting a fact.

Every year almost 4-5lac people appear for the entrance test. But the students getting admission are very less in number. Sometimes someone has to compromise on his/her field as that student does not get the desired one! This is life.

Coming back to the story, we were totally tired after roaming around for 3-4hours. Totally exhausted! and on top of that we had to go to thane by local train at 6:30pm! With all that office rush you can very well imagine the scene! Firstly we had to head towards KANJURMARG station. From there we could catch a local train. We had very limited amount of cash which forced us to take the train. But getting to the station was another big problem! The buses were overflowing with people. No place to stand in the door. And as we were exhausted we had no energy to walk down the path!

We started looking for auto-rickshaw but had no success. People near powai must be understanding our plight! Just then an auto came out from the IIT second gate. We just casually asked for lift and we got it! The IIT professor gave us a lift. Really I can never forget that kind lady. She was heading towards vikhroli station. She agreed to drop us under the bridge. Then from there the station was hardly a few metres walk. When i took out my wallet to give and my friend's share of the tariff she gently refused it. I insisted but she denied again! She just said, "I give you my blessings. You as students just respect your teacher. May GOD bless you." When we said that we were not feeling it appropriate without paying she just said, "You have to go a long way child. YOUR DESTINATION IS STILL FAR..."

These words still echo in my ears. They had a lot of depth in them. I and my friend are one of the millions who are aspiring for IIT. While roaming in the techfest we could really feel that one has to put in loads of hard work to get there; to become an IITian! And these words threw light upon our paths. That teacher just meant that the station was far from there and we needed the money to get there. But I and my friend looked upon it differently. Those words really told us that its still a long way to go and lots of hardships are to be faced before going in IIT! Those words really instilled courage in us. We were now aware that the path ahead won't be a smooth one but the one full of ups and downs accompanied by stones and thorns. This really prepared my mind for the upcoming challenges. Those words still inspire me and help me rooted to ground. Even if I'm successful those words tell me that it isn't the last thing; there are many things yet to conquer and when I'm defeated these words help me to understand that this is not the end; there are more opportunities which will come and I just have to be prepared to make the best use of them!

Really this line seems simple but has a lot of depth in it! It gave me an broader perspective of life and taught me one of the secrets of life! This shows that everything in life has a meaning. It us up to us what we decipher from it...