Tour de 2010

Taking the tour of a year actually takes a year because the experiences of life one gets in a year can never be put into words. One can tell about a few events, a few big ones which matter more than others and are fresh on the memory. But there are so many subtle incidents in life which, apparently, don’t register on the memory but play very significant roles in deciding how we feel. And there are such small subtle incidents of life which we encounter most of the times, and not the bigger ones.

So as I sit writing about the year that passed, some of the bigger events which come to my mind are getting a job, leaving the college, reluctance to join the job I got at college and my desperate efforts to find a new one, finally joining the same job with much reservations in mind, meeting new people at Jhinjholi (during my job life at Surya Roshni Ltd), quitting the job, finally taking a call about not joining the regular jobs (despite having one such opportunity) and a fair amount of travelling throughout the year.

Though I always wanted to pass out of college as soon as possible but I have missed college days a lot after passing out. Not because I very much loved to stay there abut I guess because I was addicted to a certain kind of lifestyle in college and I find it difficult to adjust to a new one. But leaving college led me to learn bigger lessons in the University of Life, which I simply adore.I learn a lot about the Big Bad World out there and learnt how to deal with it to some extent. I also became a little clearer about what I want to do with my life.

The job life, however, short was quite exotic and different. Though it was not all good but it exposed to some entirely different things. Jhinjholi, Vipassana (meditation) and Naturopathy Camp were such new experiences.

The year saw me as a student, an employee and finally as an unemployed graduate. So, how does being unemployed feel? Frankly and honestly speaking, lack of engagement has is never comfortable for anyone but I have the satisfaction of not doing something which I actually don’t want to do.

I read a lot this year and hope to continue that for the next year too. However, I got a little bit lazy with my blog which I think I should take care of the next year.

Now as all of us wait eagerly for the New Year, I wish it brings more experiences and learning. And at the same time, Happiness for Everyone!

Adios 2010! :-)

Random Stuff About LIFE

Human life is strange are even stranger are the facts we come across in life. Today I came across one such fact which strengthened my belief in the uncertainty of life and the various faces it can show to anybody.

Most of us know well about R K Narayan and for those who don’t know, he was one of the pioneers of Indian Literature in English along with Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao and in common language, he is the creator of the ever living and ever refreshing town of Malgudi. But how many of us know that the great giant of English literature could not clear his university paper of English, despite the fact that English was his favourite subject? And during the idle year, he discovered his love i.e. writing. What would have happened if Mr Narayan would not have got a back in the subject? Perhaps we would not have R K Narayan, the great writer among us. We could never have known about the lives of his ever living characters like Swami, Chandran, Krishna, Raju, Rosie, Raman, Nagraj, Thannapa and many others. Quoting Steve Job’s words here, I would say:

It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.

This reminds me of the well discussed ‘Butterfly Effect’ as well. How can a small incident or event or a course of action change the entire life of a person for good or bad. Failing in an exam or not getting a job or something like that are, I guess, smaller things. The accidents which happen on roads are, I guess, because of a wrong judgement of a fraction of second. Sometimes, the state of mind of the victim in that particular second may change the entire course of events. Sometimes, it’s the same state of mind again which can pull a person out of a big trouble.

People call this thing destiny but I call this thing the diversity of life. Every individual’s life is different and different things happen with different individuals in the same situation. This is what the beauty of the universe and our lives is. Sometimes, I think what would have happened if everybody were to be governed by the same rules of living the life, being born in the same kind of surrounding, being cared in the very same manner as a child, getting the same education, doing the same thing as others. Obviously, that can’t happen for practical purposes but what if that could have happened? Could the life have been as interesting as it is today? I guess no, absolutely no.

So, it’s good that some are born to be writers, some actors, some engineers, some doctors and some even JESUS!!

Merry Christmas!! :-)

Puri Yatra

Yesterday, I returned from a three day trip from Puri and needless to say that the trip was refreshing. Puri is one of the places I love a lot. It has the best beech I have seen till now (of course, I have to visit Mumbai and Goa first and only then, I will be in a position to declare the supremacy of Puri Beech over all the Indian beeches), you get nariyal paani (coconut water) at real cheap rates and the most important of all, being situated in a less developed area, the place still maintains its natural beauty and delicacy.

There are two things which make me deeply concerned after this trip. The first is the Naxalite problem which prevails in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and other Indian states. But how does the Naxalite problem come in between my trip? Actually, I had no idea that after the (suspected) Naxalite links in the Gyaneshwari Express train accident in May this year, all the traing running at night between Tata-Kharagpur section were stopped and train traffic would only start after 5 am in the morning. And because of this we had to stay at Tatanagar railway station throughout the night unnecessarily. The trip schedule got affected a bit and we had to face some difficulties as well. And when I think of it, it really scares me thinking of the people who live in the Naxal-affected area as when a big organization like Indian Railways can get helpless in front of the railways, what condition and fear must the people be living in the area!! On the other hand, I came to know that all the Naxalites in the region have some political contact and support and which prevents the police to act against them. Jai ho Indian Politics!! (Hail the Indian Politics!!)

The second concern is the sad state of the Indian temples which are more of a market place for the pandas or pundits (priests). And I came to know that the Jagannath Temple in Puri is the most affected by the tyranny of the pandas on the visitors. They don’t let you walk inside the temple premises peacefully unless you keep on throwing money wherever and whenever they suggest. And the worst of all is the fact that they stick to you like a fly on sugar until and unless you pay them off with some dakshina (money). This is despite the fact that the government has taken the temple under its control and fixed salary is given to all the priests. And the most surprising fact is that the pandas even used physical assault on visitors to get money from them. Use for abusive language is still prevalent, even we had to face it :-(. I know money is involved with most of the religions and almost all the temples in India but what I saw at Puri and Sakshi Gopal Temples could not be termed anything less than loot.

But who said one travels across to other places to see the places only? One travels to experience different cultures, people and lifestyle and a lot of other new things and the trip excelled in providing a very different experience of life. And the best of all was the awesome Puri Beech. Hope to visit the place again soon!! :-)