Creativity... Take Home #438

Creativity is mainly governed by the imaginative power of a person and the belief he has on his intuitions. Knowledge helps in putting forward the creation in an acceptable manner. Education might or might not play any role; it depends upon the type of education one goes through. 

World Photography Day!

Pic Courtesy: Clicked by me at Kanyakumari 

I've always liked the landscape photography! My first tour to Kerala, the state in the southern India, took the interest I'd towards photography to the next level, for which I'll always be thankful to Kerala and it's greenery and mountain filled landscapes! I simply could not put off my camera while roaming around places across the state of Kerala. Marvelous was the experience which I will cherish forever. 

My interest towards photography has also recently made me start the photography blog posts here. I've just started them and looking forward for a few more and more! 

Also, looking forward to take as many beautiful  photographs as I can in future. 

Best wishes to all the photography lovers out there on this day of photography! 

The art of conveying!

Certain things cannot be mentioned. Yet, everything can be meant. It's not impossible to convey any feedback. One just needs to figure out the best possible way which leads to change as well as less offence.  And, if one has to prioritize between change and offence, change shall be prioritised if time is running out and offence shall be avoided if there is sufficient time left. So like many a things, the art of conveying is also like a "trade off" that demands loads of maturity and clarity of thought. Not everyone can master this. Not everyone can sustain this. It's easier said than done, indeed. Still, a lot worthwhile to practice. 

Beauty... Take Home #437

How beautifully you present yourself matters more than how beautiful you look. 

Right point and right time... Take Home #436

Waiting for the right time to put forward your point is as important as gathering the inputs to make right point in the first place. 

No one can confirm what is right point and which is right time. Believe and follow your instincts by being fully aware of two facts. One, instincts can be wrong. And two, instincts have the best chance to be right. 

Be open... Take Home #435

Be open to various perspectives of various people whom you meet in your every juncture of life and hence try to expand your way of accepting people as they are. Perspectives are limitless and so as the number of people you meet and the issues you have to resolve in a life time. Being open to as many as you can is wise enough, I think. 

Friendship survives the time!

Time changes many things.

Time changes many people.

Time changes many relations.

Time changes many conclusions.

But, true friendship wins the tie with time.

True friendship survives the time.

True friendship keeps the friends together,

If not at all the times, in the times of need.

If not physically together at all the times,

Emotionally there forever, for each other.  

Take time!

Take time before concluding and expressing your love to someone. Not because you cannot be sure in short period of time, but because you have to hang on with that person and to your word for a life time. Take enough time to prepare yourself to be committed for a life time to someone you love. 

Incredibly dependent Indians in the Independent India!

Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Indians, belated by the way. It is the day to remember the Independence struggle our ancestors went through to make India independent from the British rule. Salute to all those legendary freedom fighters who sacrificed their everything to see an Independent India. Their dream and aim of getting Independence was fulfilled in 1947 on August 15th. India has been independent since then for 68 years so far. As like their country, some of the Indians have been independent too. Yet, many of the Indians have been dependent too!

Human beings are social animals and no one can deny the fact that we all are dependent on each other socially. While the social needs cover most of part of what a human being needs to lead life and indeed it creates the dependency, there are a couple of aspects every human being must aspire to be independent in. One of the two is economical aspect and the other one is emotional aspect.

Economical dependency... 

Although the basic education for all the citizens is being seriously pursued, the number of women and students being employed or self-earning is very less.  Education gives the necessary outlook at various prospects. Employment gives the necessary economical freedom to be independent in doing something for themselves of for their families or for the society. The women and the youngsters who earn themselves have the extra chance to stretch their boundaries and hence to touch the lives of their dearies in a different way. 100% employment shall be tried, without any gender discrimination. Limit on age shall be put on, and I think it must be after only fifteen years that the kids are allowed to work.

Women who earn are seen often expressing their thoughts fairly and frankly, especially in family matters, than those who are homemakers and are dependent on their husbands income. For any family to win the race, it's important that every one of the family has the say. And the confidence required by each person of the family to speak out comes from various aspects, one of out them and according to me major out of them is the respective person's employment. It has its own impact, somewhere or the other, its not the only one to impact though. Women and students must be encouraged to go out and earn. That not only decreases the economic dependency, but also improves the family living standards and thought processes. Students being economically dependent makes them lose a lot of their ideas without fully pursuing them. It shall not just be the pocket money given by parents that they should have to spend upon whatever they wish, but they shall also earn on their own.

Emotional dependency...

Emotional dependency is a tricky one. This comes irrespective of who earns and who does not. It is just to do with one's psychological maturity. Maturity in terms of being independent in taking decisions, does not matter how big or small they are. Maturity in terms of going going out and getting the things done, again does not matter how big or small ones. It could be about visiting an electricity office, or going to a ration shop, or going for cloth shopping, or buying a home appliance. Being able to do it on one's own is an absolute bliss. That does not come from the air, it shall come from within. The willingness to do things alone shall come from within. Thinking that someone should accompany you all the time to do anything comes from within, from a fear factor that rules the mind. Break it through and define yourself in a better way. This is especially applicable for women.

Men like to do many a things on their own, by nature they are so I feel. Exceptions can be there, I can't deny. Kids would love to be on their on number of occasions, though necessary guidance must be ensured by parents. Women, not all though, show the dependency a number of times on their husbands, on their kids, on their neighbors, to do smaller to smaller things. Exceptions are here too! This makes one emotionally weak and reduces the freedom to half. Kids must also be left on their own whenever there is a chance and less risk to do so. That makes sure the kids make it as a hobby to think independently, to do things independently, to decide independently. Do not ever feel that your kid or wife is being obedient to you because they take your permission before doing anything. That's not being obedient. That's actually being dependent. This does not mean that one must not inform family before doing anything. It only means that one must differentiate what must be informed and what need not be. Its about realizing that one can do it right on his or her own.

Improving the economical independence helps in living on one's own. Whereas, improving the emotional dependency helps in being one's own. Economical independence brings the respect and emotional independence brings the love. Economical independence aids in taking decisions confidently, whereas emotional independence aids in coping up with all situations, especially the tougher ones. Economical independence rises the living standards and emotional independence rises the goals one sets for himself or herself. Both are important in their own ways, although not all could be explained here. Working upon both is important for a person as an individual or for a family as a team facing the society.

Hoping to see more independent Indians in the independent India. 

Why 'Khel Ratna' for Sania Mirza is not like 'yet another award given'?

Two things have always ensured to surround her, sometimes one at a time and at times both together. One out of them is 'controversies' and the other is 'injuries'. Both of them are the worst nightmares of any player, for that matter any person. Handling controversies made her further stubborn. Injuries made her tough. The way she converted every difficulty into an opportunity and advantage, the way she fought back to the top spot in the women's doubles tennis rankings, the way she recently won the prestigious titles of her career make me say it confidently that the "Rajiv Khel Ratna" award bestowed upon Sania Mirza is not like 'yet another award given". I do not mean that the other awardees did not do all that against various odds. The nature of the odds this girl has come through is unique, as much as I have understood it.

Even though it's been twelve years since Sania Mirza won her first international title, at the Wimbledon in girls doubles, there has been no other single female player in India who could repeat her feat. Various social restrictions are usually put on girls especially when they are into sports. The restrictions in Muslim community are tough for any parents's to ignore or for any girl to dream her life her way. What Sania Mirza's parents would have to go through, would have to listen to, can be imagined and understood! When Mirza's career was in peak stage, she was criticized for the way she dressed up herself while playing. The basic thing for any tennis player to give her best in the court is the way she can move herself, the way she can use her limbs while trying to reach the ball. For that, whatever is comfortable she can wear. She could have simply ignored the comments made. But she did not. She changed her dressing as necessary and continued to concentrate on her game. 

Sania has always been outspoken, be it about herself or about something happening in the society. Many of the statements of her made many a groups of people unhappy. Even though she knew that she did say nothing wrong, she maintained her dignity in handling the critics again. Facing a legal case under the "Prevention of insults to national honor act" given tremendous pressure as it actually questions the character of the player who represents the country. She had to face such a case too! 

Injuries are a players' first opponents. Unlike the opponents with whom they must fight, players must fight first to avoid the injuries coming their way. The career threatening wrist injury Sania Mirza has faced and fought with is a dangerous one. Many a people did not expect her comeback, I confess that I was one among them. But I was later happy that she shattered the injuries aside and did the comeback all again.

Her decision to participate in the commonwealth games held in India was appreciated as she had said that she would never participate in any tournament in India. The way she expressed her disappointment over the London Olympic selection row, i.e. to spare her for Leander Paes, was one of her type but finally, for the nation she respected the decision taken by the officials. Teaming up with Martina Hingis is probably one of the best decisions she has taken. That made her life. And that has brought her all the way here, whatever the way she is today. 

Marriage is something very personal. Life partner is very personal too and the decision about the life partner must be one's own. Even though she knew that since she was a public figure, marrying a Pakistani national would make many Indians angry, she still stick to her decision of tying knot with Shoiab Malik. When people speak about her in-law country, her nationality etc, she always says that she will continue to represent India, the country and the people who have made her the way she is today. Handling this matter is not as easy as it appears. A lot of emotions are into this, a wide range of people and relations are involved. She must be brilliant and tough to successfully come out of all this and still manage to win the big titles on the world's big stages. On one occasion, a journalist asked her a question if she was missing her family life and having kids. What she said was interesting. "When you see your life as noble, certain things won't bother you". That's thought provoking too!

Congratulations to Sania Mirza for winning the Khel Ratna award for 2015. Hope the above justifies the title of this post! May many more titles do come her way. May she rewrites the history created by herself. Also, I wish to see many women tennis players coming out and performing on world stage. That fulfills the journey which Mirza has started.

Congratulations Saina Nehwal...!

I've just watched the live telecast of world badminton championships being hosted by Jakarta, Indonesia. First and foremost, the sportive spirit of the audience amused me, who were Indonesians mostly. Even though there were Indonesian players in couple of ties, the audience did not show differentiate the players from other countries; rather they did show the similar support as that of what showed for their own players. Just admirable. Cheers to all of them!

Congratulations to all the winners of the day, especially Saina Nehwal. She has lived upto the expectations for sure. What interested me in the match is the determination of her opponent players from Indonesia, who suffered from the knee pain throughout the match but still fought till the end. Saina did it with ease without any signs of nervousness at any stage! Well done. Her cross court smashes always thrill me and so as her net game. She was wonderful today as well. Now that she is through to her maiden world championship final, I wish her all the success in her every attempt tomorrow against the reigning world champion, Carolina Marin, who is yet another awesome player the world badminton has today. Looking forward for a wonderful match between these two good players. Hope Saina will not lose it in her mind as she did during her last tie with Marin during the final of All England! 

Wishing all the finalists all the best! Hope the better wins. 

Change the goals... Take Home #434

Your goals must inspire you! If you are sure that they are not doing so, then it's time to change them and to take a different path to success. 

Rejuvenating nature... Pic of the day #11

Natural cure is the best cure. Natural rejuvenation is the best rejuvenation. Amidst the tight schedules at work, if you can still manage to take out some time to go around and refresh yourselves, that will be the best thing to do to refresh yourselves, to rejuvenate yourselves. This is very much required in the contemporary scenario of work filled week days that make one wait for the weekend desperately. It need not be a weekend to roam around, of course that's the better way to save upon your leaves. But saving leaves at the cost of your mind getting bugged up with everything without any reservation is  not a wise thing to do. Taking off in the middle of the week, provided you are not skipping any important assignments, reduced the stress to half and makes you ready for the rest of the week. And when an unplanned trip out in the nature comes in the middle of the week, that given even more pleasure. 

Pune is known for many weekend getaways. If it's the rainy season, then the call from greenery or the call from the beautiful mountain views cannot be just ignored. You will just buckle up and let your foot off in a sheet helplessness. Doing that just stuns you and makes you realize how better the nature is in refreshing you. The above picture is taken at a location around Pune on our way to Tamini Ghat. Believe me, whatever happens, you cannot turn back from the views. You will want to stay back forever, if possible. The locations are so blissful that you need nothing than some time to keep looking at the green views. You won't look at your watch and your stress won't look at you! You feel new to yourself. You feel much calmer to yourself. Your breath slows down so that it allows you to get lost in the thoughts, and eventually makes you get lost with yourself. 

Very, very, very refreshing it is to take time off to escape into the greenery, to hide behind the mountains, to drench yourself under the water falls, to eat hot corn while looking at the sleek water falls in the mountains surrounding you, and of course to take a few selfies or pictures! Rejuvenate yourself and find an all new 'you' from within. 

Don't take driving personally!

I think some people take driving personally. They just keep speeding up irrespective of the road and traffic conditions. When they have to wait at traffic signal, only the vehicle in the front can stop them and definitely not the red signal. They use 'horn'so much that probably they want to be the first in the que on the road, beginning of which is unknown. And if the vehicles come in their way are driven by the opposite gender, their way of taking it personally increases exponentially. 

What for? Fun, passion, ignorance, or whatever it is!

Its alright to maintain optimum speed. Its alright to wait for a few seconds at the traffic signal. Its alright to let the horn take rest and be in the que, even if its long and anyway its never ending. Its alright to allow fellow vehicles to pass by, even if they are driven by the opposite gender. 

Don't take driving personally. You may think that you have good control. But life's control is in no one's hands. Whatever can happen will happen. Drive safe!

Efforts do not go wasted... Take Home #433

Efforts do not go wasted unless you ignore using your experience while connecting the dots. Be attentive and make most out of your very own experience. Because, one's own experience is the best experience. 

Blue skies... Pic of the day #10

Blue skies always amaze me. The beyond is not understood but from the way it appears, it inspires me to believe that there is 'beyond' to everything. There is more to everything than the piece of what we know, than the bit of what we understand. 

This understanding of mine makes me take none for granted. Neither the good nor the bad. Neither the happier times nor the tougher times. Neither the smiles nor the tears. None of them lasts longer. None of then lasts forever. Life is full of happenings and all these happen either one after the other or when situation is further bad, all happen together, so that you would not know what to express, what to cry for and what to smile for! 

The understanding of mine about the blue skies makes me believe in the unbelievable. What we believe is usually what we have seen happening sometime in the past. Also, what we believe is what we think will happen sometime in future. To believe something from past is nothing special but to believe that something can happen in future is an attitude which is linked to the basic idea of believing in the beyond! Believing in the space where anything can happen, and hoping that what we need happens. This is absolutely special! 

So, that's the analogy. Keeping it aside for a moment, the picture is taken couple of days back when the blue skies returned amidst the rainy season. For few moments only though! I could capture one of them. This is not one of the best monsoon seasons in the country and here in Pune. Although the rains are sufficient enough to make the landscapes look green and hence call us for trips, they are definitely not sufficient to serve the purposes of farmers, home makers and multiple other needs. Hoping to see the rains coming back with bang, soon.

Blue skies inspire but they depress too when they appear at wrong time! So better they go away, for now, and come back for the beautiful winter.  

Managing people... Take Home #432

Managing people appears to have come by birth to certain managers not because it actually has come by birth, but because over a period of time within themselves they developed the qualities of understanding and valuing people around them, their employees majorly, irrespective of the strengths and weaknesses of each person. People must be understood and valued to get succeeded in a manager's role. 

Egg Omelet... Pic of the day #9

"Egg omelet" has always been my favorite food item. Most of the times it helps me in finishing my meal with a curry that's not of my interest. In childhood I used to eat very selectively. I could not eat each and every curry. Omelet used to be the companion of mine to finish the meal and hence to escape the angry looks of my elders! But once I started cooking myself, I've started liking almost all dishes. After all, I cook them and I must eat. But that's just half a reason. The other half, what I feel right, is that the purchase and handling I do of the vegetables make me get attached to them and eventually I like the curry I make.  Still, there are some favorites and some are tough choices, may be for health purpose etc. To survive such curries, I go for Omelet. Of course, that's not the only reason to go for Omelet though! 

I remember the following very much. This is one of the best memories of mine from my hostel days. When I was in intermediate hostel, parents were allowed on Sundays. They could come and meet their kids, could get some eatables, could take them out though not on all Sundays etc. My mom used to get me home made Dosa and Omelet. Every time I think of this, my eyes become teary. Needless to say what's happening in my eyes at this very moment as I write this! I used to skip the breakfast, which used to be 'Tomato bath'. I used to wait on my toes for my parents as well as for the eatables they would get. So, Omelet was an obvious item that used to be there almost every time! Although I liked the hot omelet, the cooler one too used to satisfy me to the core. 

Undoubtedly, my intermediate days are the worst days I would rate as. The hostel life in a corporate educational institution cannot be explained in one post, may be I will write about it in detail sometime later. For now, Omelet is the topic and the above is what I've to say! The below picture is of the last Omelet I ate, i.e. couple of days back! 

'Jenga' - Pic of the day #8

Playing indoors is as important as playing outdoors. While the outdoor games help in physical movements of the body for its coordination with mind, the indoor games help in building the mind to counter back the psychological attacks of the opponents. There used to be many indoor games in our childhood that we know them by their names in our local languages and most of them were mind games and few of them were of entertainment type. Some were played in leisure hours and some could even be played when there was a boring class going on. While outdoor games used to bring a lot of audience, the indoor games used to fail in attracting the onlookers, not all though and 'Caroms' being the best example. But both tempt the players to think that they should win and the game be over soon! 

To celebrate the last Pongal festival, we had been to our home town for family meet. I saw the kids in our family, the next generation, playing a game with wooden blocks. Almost all generations and ages of family members were keenly observing the ongoing game. Never before I saw some indoor game gripping up to that level. I moved closely to the kids and started observing what the game was about. It was being played with wooden blocks placed in a pillar kind of shape. The photo shown here gives the description.

The name of the game is "Jenga".  One of our uncles brought it for kids from US. Only then I came to know that there such a game! An interesting one indeed. Further details of the game you may look on the internet. But what I've inferred from that incident is as following. "Jenga" brings lot of excitement to the game as the mistake of one player or rather the loss of one player brings down the complete structure well brought together by all the players. Every player, even though its not his chance now, tempts to help the other player who's to play next. that's just to make sure that number of levels of the blocks all of them have put together grow endlessly. End is always there in every game, so as in this game too. But the excitement builds up exponentially for each level that increases. Everyone gets the applauds for each step. A team can be seen even though the players are competing individually. That's interesting and kids learn a lot of things and especially about belonging to a team even though there is a competition among them. Not all games can teach this very important lesson or rather the realization!  

Now we've bought one set of this game at home and we keep playing it in free time. The picture of the highest level that we could reach so far is shown below! Hoping to beat ourselves soon! 

One more proof... Take Home #431

Even after putting a lot and believably enough efforts, some issues just stay unresolved! 

Be determined to solve a long standing issue and you will be stunned to see new ideas coming your way, either from your within or from the people whom you contact upon the issue.

This is one more proof to remind us that "life is full of possibilities". 

Nothing can stay unresolved forever! 

Win the best!

Dream big.

Think aloud.

Work more.

Win the best!

Learn to be realistic!

Rather than asking filmmakers to be realistic, better we all learn to differentiate the reality and fantasy; kids must be taught the same too. Doing that not just helps in correlating films with real life, but also helps in understanding many characters we meet in day to day life, especially those who fantasize everything and take advantage in multiple ways.

If it's understood that a two hour movie can have huge impact on kids, it must also be understood that, being there around them for a life time, you can impact them too positively, and must impact larger than what a movie can do! 

Being proactive... Take Home #430

Proactiveness is appreciated always, when one performs his own job being proactive, but not every time one performs someone else's job being 'proactive'. 

Count back timer... Pic of the day #7

It was back in early 1990's I remember watching television for the first time. We did not have TV in our home then so I along with mom used to go to our neighbor's house. Mom often tells me that I used to watch TV through my fingers as most of the scenes used to fear me back then. She also tells that I used to seat myself back side of her and used to play all myself while she along with another aunty continued to watch TV. After few years, we bought a black and white TV. I remember preparing myself to watch the movie on every Sunday evening. That was probably the only movie I used to watch in a week. I also remember my grand ma watching 'Chandrakanta' serial on Sunday morning. The usage of TV was so low that I could remember more of what I heard or watched.

That's not anymore the case as on date. I watch too much a stuff and fail to remember even thirty percent of it. In the earlier days of serials, especially in Telugu channels, the advertisements used to be telecasted for more than sixty percent of the total time of the serial schedule. We literally used to wait for the serial to come in between the advertisements. But thanks to the recent rule passed by the government. In a thirty minutes serial, now its must that the serial be telecasted for at least twenty minutes. That's a great relief. 

The above picture is taken while I was watching a serial in Colors channel. On the top left corner, they display the timer counting back from one minute fifty nine seconds. That's really useful and it prepares me for the next couple minutes. That also enables us to switch over to other channels instead of worrying about missing some portion of the serial and hence making us helpless to stick to one channel only or change back the channel and check every now and then! 

Well, that's it about this picture. That's the pic of the day for today!

Never do so... Take Home #429

Never describe anyone by their limitations. Limitations are not mistakes, after all.