What is this called ?

The moment when you come across something or someone.

And it feels like a sponge dried from years has finally found a drop of water.

You absorb it. To the last bit.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Now that you’ve tasted this water,

And more so, the satisfaction it provides,

You make sure you don’t loose it.

You know this is it.

This can fill that gaping void.

You are now motivated.

Motivated to acquire more and more of this water.

You build dreams and plan for a future.

A future where you would have enough of it.

Enough to keep you feeling the way you are feeling now.

You are now motivated.

This is a point, where you can make sense of life.

Why you do what you do.

What makes you wake up in morning, dust yourself and get back.

Back to doing something that leads you towards your water.

What is this called ?

The Stories we'll tell

One day, dear friends, one day we’ll be old,

Think about the stories we’ll tell.



Stories of a life that grew better with years as a wine,

Or stories of what we could’ve should’ve and would’ve done.

Stories, Letters, Pictures, videos, songs that stood the test of time,

Or Likes and Praises from strangers of the season.



Stories of going through the tunnel of your fears,

Or of U-turns, excuses and grapes with a sour taste.

Stories of close shaves, just in times and unplanned journeys,

Or of giving in to the society, as aspirations went to waste.



Stories of laughter and tears, victories and failures shared,

Or a review of the world that we saw from the audience seat.

Story of friends and families who found a way to stay together,

Or a tale of how we lost touch, as we got busy being busy.



One day, dear friends, one day we’ll be old,

Think about the stories we’ll tell.

Stories that old friends and grandchildren will listen to bemused,

or ones told to a stranger in the mirror.



Inspired from (and written while listening to ) :

Discovering the Murphy Radio Baby

Listening carefully to well written songs can bring you pleasant surprises.

I say this after discovering the Murphy Radio Baby recently while listening to the Ala Barfi song from movie Barfi.

The song is beautifully written by Swanand Kirkire.

The folliwing lines triggered this unimportant finding :

"Barfi jab amma ji ki kokh mein tha soya,
Amman ne murfi ka radio mangaya"

A quick Googling of "Murphy Radio" introduced me to the Murphy Radio Baby :

As it turns out the Murphy Baby is one of the first icons in Indian Advertising, way before the Zoozoos or the Hutch Pug or the Amul Girl or even the Asian Paints Gattu..

It was one of the strongest brand icons of the 1950's and now a fun trivia for advertising affectionados like yours truly.

Right now, I find it hard to see the Brand Association of a Radio with a very cute and healthy baby.

But as it is apparent even from the song, it had some special co-relation. That is another discovery to come.

But for now, kudos to Mr. Swanand Kirkire for writing sensible and enriching lyrics.


Another interesting reference in the song to Radio Ceylon , the oldest broadcasting radio station in Asia :


"Munna jab haule-halue duniya mein aaya Baba ne Ceylon wala station lagaaya"

 

Why the Hell are you running ?

(This post talks is mostly related to the game Temple Run. If you don’t know what Temple Run is you can check out Link )

After several hours of playing Temple Run, I realized and asked myself something I should have asked the first time I started playing it. 

“Why the hell am I Running?"

And then came the scary realization : Isn’t this the exact same question we might ask ourselves 50 Years from now. The only difference is , this time we are talking about our life.

“Why the hell have we been running all our life?”

If you are a someone who has wasted several hours of your life, playing this ( what I realize now is a very very sick) game.

      Think about It. 

1. You are running on a set path, which you cannot change. You have to try and squeeze yourself in the system and find a way to survive and hopefully succeed. (Just Like life)

2.      Your goal is collect gold coins, so that you can buy powers and stuff and fancy accolades. Stuff that may be you don't even need in the first place.And all this, only so that you collect more coins and get higher scores. And keep running. (Just like Life)

3.      You bust your ass off to complete some silly, unrealistic Objectives that are like checkpoints of your journey, which are not even set by you. (Just like Life)

4.      The only moments of victories you enjoy are some runs where somehow everything works in your way (You get the right powers at right times and you are lucky enough to pass all obstacles). The rest of your playing time you are just running around hoping to get lucky and eventually happy (Again, Just like Life)

5.      Another source of happiness comes when you share your silly accomplishments and even compare your scores with people around you. You get happy if you are leading among the small batch of people around you. ( which are actually immaterial and futile. Someone, Somewhere is always going to have a better score than you like someone having a better car/wife/house). And, so the bottom line is you keep Running to either defend your high score or catch up with a score of a friend. (Just like Life) 

If you are still reading. Please do for a couple of more lines. Cause it gets better.

Unlike Temple Run, you have control over your life. At least, most of it.

And If you are smart enough to understand that, you can make changes to make sure you live on your terms. And not be a part of rat race that someone else has created and you don’t even know why the hell you are running.

So if your version of Temple Run is to go ahead and jump into the water and enjoy the splash.

Go ahead. Do It.

Its your life.

The Beginning of a Journey..

28^th April, 2012 marks the first anniversary of an important journey of my life.

Its exactly an year ago, me and my friends boarded the Dehradun Jan Shatabdi Express from Delhi to Dehradun, thereby beginning one of the most memorable trips of my life : The Uttarakhand Trip.

Our tickets were till Dehradun from where we had decided to go North. 

But, we ended up getting down at Varanasi, 200kms before Dehradun, just because our hearts felt like taking a dip in the Ganga.

The trip ended a week later per se, but in some way its still going on.

We had just gotten over with the tideous necessity of getting our MBA degree and gotten ourselves some good paying jobs.

But one week of travelling gave me more insights about life and happiness than what years of education can just hope for. These learnings are mine and I have a lot more to learn.

What I would like to celebrate today is the joy of travelling and what it helps you discover.

On and after your trip.

Cheers.

The little Girl

I know a girl,
And shez not the only one like her, in this world.
Shez just like a smiling summer
And in the night, she does shimmer.

Shez been growing up fast,
Looking much prettier this year than the last
She, has a sweet voice,
And she doesn’t mind the wows from boys.

Shez been busy,
Getting all the attention from the guys around.
You might think that she doesn’t,
But ohh yes, she kinda understands the world.

She get those offers but she waits,
Not to tease, just to select.
But once she finds her man,
she holds on to him, doing all she can.

Although it looks,
shez got it all figured out
she does not,
but shez all ready to fight it out

There might be some hushed voices
and even some raised eyebrows,
But only after getting them all her side
Does she takes her wovs.

She is a woman now,
a stronger one too,
But shez still the same little girl
So hubbys be good to your wives too.

I dunno, how true is this one above but its my reflection of a girl.
Something i've gathered from all the sweet girls i've bee lucky to know.
Thanks Pallu,ojha,anni,iyer,juhi,nivi,jiggy,niru &bee.
Obvious inspiration : one of my fav songs, Daughters by John Mayer.