On Love...

Well, it's one of the most complicated of things.. isn't it?
But in the end, love really means it's about the other.
We human beings are inherently selfish. And lazy. We do work only for ourselves.
Everything that we do is for ourselves. Even loving someone is in some way a selfish act.
But there's the paradox. Love is the only exception where you put the other first.

Love is the only exception when you put in effort for somone else. Without even realising that
what you did was something beyond. Because when you really love somone, it's just natural.
It's just no big deal.

Our parents, brothers and sisters, best friends, and the love of our life. Different loves, yet essentially the same.

I think the Gift of Magi captures this very well.. I love this short story by O. Henry..
http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/Gift_of_the_Magi.html

On Marriage...

One of the things about festive occassions is the increased interaction with your relatives. And when you are a single guy, the one topic that's on everyones mind is, Marriage!

Know they all mean well, and they would want me to be happily settled with a nice girl and all..

But I can't really do this marriage thing just for the sake of it. Just because I am 28 and it will be difficult to find girls afterwards!

I would rather marry when I find someone with whom I share something meaningful and beautiful. Someone I would want to spend a lot of time with. Someone with whom I have a lot in common and who shares my thoughts and interests.

Love should be effortless. You just look at her and you just know. It's something just very natural. I don't know why people want to define it, philosophise it, romanticise it or even demean it.

People ask me what is my criteria, what is that am looking for in a girl. Frankly speaking, I don't know. People are not a sum total of their hobbies and appearances. So on what do I define any criteria at all. I don't have any criteria for the girl I want to be with. When you love someone, you are in love about everything that they are, every small tiny little thing. Any predefined criteria about how someone should be goes for a complete toss. And so I don't keep any expectations of how she should be.

Thankfully Dad and Mom are not in a hurry. They just want me to be with the one I would want to be. And like all things in this world, that will happen when it has too. In its own sweet time.

Mother Mary

Mother Mary, originally uploaded by Aroj.

Mumbai Sunset

mumbai sea 169, originally uploaded by Aroj.

On Photography

Got myself a new DSLR recently, Nikon D5000. That one decision has set me on the road to learning photography and mastering my camera. And its turning out to be quite an awesome journey.

It's the same for all things, when you attempt to learn something new, you go through a journey.

From the exciting beginnings, to the confusion and desperation, to the sudden insights and then the feeling of content, only to realize that there's so much more that you didn't know and that there's so much more that could make a lot of difference. This journey never ends.

I look at those pros, and think, damn when will I ever be able to take snaps like them. But I know I have something in me. I know that when I read these articles and rules on how to take good snaps and realize that I already knew these things intuitively. Nobody had told me these things and yet I knew. It feels really great when you see that what you always knew, is mentioned down as a rule for other people to learn.

I take my camera along everywhere I can. Every week I learn something new. I think at this point in time I know most of the things. And its more practice that's going to lead me higher.

No, I don't just want to take pictures for fun. I want to take pictures that will blow your mind away. Make you say "Wow!"

Am not there yet, but that's the journey am on.

I see dead people...

Ok, now don't jump of your seat, I haven't gone pyscho.. :-)

But I love this line from the Sixth Sense. I just feel that, I tend to see things differently from most people. I can see things that others somehow can't. I mean be it at work or otherwise, I tend to have a different perspective, something other's hadn't thought of.

Like sometimes I see a movie and like it, only to know the others thought it was a horrible movie :-) Just that I could see what the director meant to portray..or maybe I interpreted it differently..

I just happen to see things differently..like my eyes being fitted with a different camera..a different view :-)

Unlike the boy in the Sixth Sense, I think this a blessing, I can see things that others cannot.:-)

Timeless

Attempted a poem after a really really long time..for a friend's birthday...

For somethings are timeless.

The picture that you take,
the painting that you make,
the poems that you write,
the words that rhyme,
and the thoughts that flow,
the song that you sing,
All that an act of creation,
an expression of self,
the wonder in that, truly yours
and yours alone.

Our hobbies and our passions enrich us, define us, make us grow.
So this birthday, here's hoping, you are inspired to 
to pick up a new hobby and or liven up a long forgotten one.

And so these books,
Not a rulebook,
but an inspiration;
- to more things timeless.

The German goalkeeper's suicide...

His widow Teresa said she had hoped her love would help her husband pull through his crisis.

"I tried to give him hope again, to show him that football was not everything, that we had each other," she bravely told a press conference through the tears.

"I was always by his side: I believed, with love, we could pull through this.

"But football meant everything to him."

http://www.matthewyglesias.com/world/1174-germany-goalkeeper39s-suicide-came-after.html

I feel deeply saddened by this news. The day's paper had news about two other suicides as well. Both young boys, who had taken their lives. One after being punished by his teacher. Other after failing his exam.

It's even harder, seeing his wife talk on television, trying to hold back the tears. When you think of all the pain he's had to go through, he lost his two year old kid to a heart infection, you think, it must have been really really difficult to continue to go on.

But when you have someone who loves you and is there to be by your side, how then can you take your own life? That's something I am finding it so hard to understand.

I have always felt that, when someone is at a point where he is thinking of ending his life, all he needs to know is that he is invaluable to someone. It's only when they are convinced, that it would matter to no one, no one at all, if they were not to be there any longer, then and only then can they take that extreme step of taking their lives.

All those people who take their lives, I wish they knew they were not as alone as they thought themselves to be. And I wish strength to the people around them. May they inspire them to see the beauty that is there in life. Even when their share of pain is more than what they should have had.

But unfortunately, love alone was not enough for him. It is indeed work that gives our life meaning. And what happens when you lose that? Can love help tide you over?? In this case though, it couldn't. And that saddens me a great deal.

I wish his widow peace and the will to live, it's going to be even more harder for her to live without him now, but she has to, for her child.

Can't believe it..

That my last post was almost an year ago! You mean a year's gone by so fast?
And that I haven't written anything at all!

As another birthday looms near :-), I realize, I have to get back, to what I once loved doing...

So heres hoping, that I am back to writing..!

Happy Birthday!

Well, here's me, another year older :-)

The highlight of the day? The full Happy Bday song sung to me over the phone by my niece, nephew and aunts :-) Wow, that felt real nice. I guess one is never too old to enjoy the good old Happy Bday being sung to you!!

The second highlight was the absolutely delicious cake.. I have been getting to have a lot of cakes recently.. :-)

Not in too much of a mood to celebrate either, given all that's been happening in the city.

Too much has happened, it could have been worse, but that's no consolation for the ones who have lost their loved ones.

So I can't help thinking about Death on a day like this. None of us can escape it for sure when our time comes. But till then, every moment is a gift. And all that matters is we live our life.

This year has been a real tough time for me. But wonder of wonders! I have made it through.. alive!

And I now have realised one thing... if it's meant to happen, it will, in its own sweet time.

At the same time, it's not destiny to look forward to. It's the moments to look forward to.

And thank you Lord, for all the miracles and coincidences, just when I was least expecting anything. They keep me going...

Dead Poet's Society..

On poetry...

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race.

And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.

To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?"

Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play *goes on* and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be."

Of Problems...

Why is it that nothing in life is ever simple? Why is it that there are always problems?
Why is it that something always goes wrong? Why is it that nothing ever goes to a plan?
Why is it that wishes never come true?

And I look around myself and I see problems everywhere. Kashmir's burning to the build being broken. Big or small, something wrong everywhere.

So much we wish to resolve these problems. So much we wish there wouldn't be any more.
But yet, out of nowhere, it shows up again.

The perfect state, no issues and no problems and life's smooth and all are happy and at peace.
Why is this so impossible? Why can't we have a world without problems? 

Maybe, that would be a movie without a villain? Boring?

I find it so fascinating...in the end..for all that they say and for all that they talk and for all that they claim, its adversity that separates the men from the boys, the real from the fake, the strong from the weak.

So then, here's me, up against all my little problems, that my life has wisely chosen to test me with, taking courage in the saying, "For what doesn't kill me, only makes me stronger!"

Life's other name then must be problem.

My Life..

That breathtaking shot. That inspiring scene.

Transported dreams. Poetic awe.

That hard to put down read. That philosophical write

Movie magic. Musical high. 

Lazy weekends. My friends.

Morning sunrise. Nighttime glow. 

Mom's kitchen. Maximum City.

What would my life be, 

without you.

Who Am I?

Just looked at my orkut profile and saw how horribly outdated it is..or have I changed a lot in the last year..I guess we are ever changing...our interests, hobbies, priorities..does it then make sense to define who you are at any given time?

Who am I?
If only that were such a simple answer.
The lessons life throws at me,
how can I not be different each day.
Does it matter then who I am today,
when I will no longer be the same tomorrow?
Or maybe, I will always be the same.
And no one will still know the difference?

The Greatest..

The hardest thing in the world. The Wait.

The greatest gift?  The gift of Inspiration.

The purest thing? Unbridled Enthusiasm.

The best unwind? Friends n Music.

The greatest escape? An engrossing read. A thrilling watch.

The greatest invention in the world?

 The telephone. Never far from the ones we love.

 The aircraft. When the sound of their voices are just not enough.

The most beautiful thing in the world?
 Two people, in love with each other. Their eyes.
 A mother's unconditional love.
 A father's pride.