Words for thoughts!!

What a movie!! What an awesome lady Gangubai was!! We would have never known about her if SLB had not chosen to make a movie on her. Yes it is a very sad story. But it has brought to light how some girls have no choice to come out from their world of red light. And Gangubai being part of this world took the ownership of those girls and encouraged them to live with dignity and not to be ashamed when they step out. She took care of them like their mother. She took the challenge of winning election in their area even when chances of her winning were very bleak. That’s the one quality I liked the most in her. She loved to accept challenges without a single doubt in her mind that she will fail. And with her strong belief, she always got what she wanted. She also went extra mile to have kids of her girls get education even when head of the school was reluctant to admit them. She gave an awesome speech at aazad maidan to ask for rights for their world and to make everyone aware that even thei...

Finally I watched this much awaited movie. As most of my friends had already told me, yes it’s an emotional movie. Didn’t have any idea that it’s based on a true story. It’s a story of a girl named “Aisha Chaudhary”. In her life, complications started as soon as she was born and she felt that she was a villain in her parents’ life as her birth complicated their life and also affected their love life. It’s a story of Aisha’s parents who didn’t leave any stone unturned to save their daughter’s life. A girl who could have died within one year of being born due to a rare genetic disorder got to live 18 years all because of sheer efforts of her parents. Out of 18 years, many years went into her treatment. And Aishi (as her family used to call her) made the most of her life in those few years she got to live. She used to paint. She wrote a book that got published by Bloomsbury. Well, I am going to read that book for sure. And she always had this habit of lightening up any tense s...

You and I are so busy and working at such a high pace.. Makes me wonder, are we all in some kind of a race. Race of becoming the best employee, best parent, spouse or a friend, We try to do everything and it leaves us exhausted in the end. 'Jack of all trades, master of none' is the adage we all have in our mind, Yet we try to achieve everything in the fear of not being left behind. What is keeping us so busy, have we ever thought? Is it required to do everything within limited time we have got. At work, we strive to always achieve more. If you slow down, someone else will be promoted to the position you adore. And while you get busy to make your impact at work place, You miss on the social obligations you have to face. It’s okay if we have to miss such gatherings once in a while, Work on your TBD tasks, which will otherwise start to pile. Don’t bother about people, who judge you for not making it to their event, Ig...

8 years, wow Kamlesh!! Feels so good. From just an classmate to friend to best friend to spouse, journey has been absolutely fantastic with you. There were college days, when we both not being sure if we'll ever marry, used to dedicate this song to each other: "Mere naseeb mein tu hai ke nahin, tere naseeb mein main hoon ke nahin. Ye Hum kya jaane, ye Woh hi jaane, jisne likha hai sabka Naseeb". Now we know that we were in each other's Naseeb (destiny). I am sure, Almighty would be laughing at us , watching us from above singing this song. Thanks for always being there for me. For understanding me, for being so patient with me. For listening to your chatter box, and listening to same  things over and over again, for shopping with me, for being prudent in take decisions and not letting me make any decision/choice in haste. In initial days of marriage, it used to be so frustrating to realize that we are totally opposites. Now we realise, we compliment eac...

It’s time to cheer, as fall is here. Summer is gone and so are the long sunny days. Camping, hiking, outing; we enjoyed sunshine in our own ways. We have waved goodbye to Summer, Hoping it to arrive back, sooner than ever. It’s time to welcome fall, the most colorful season of all. It so beautifies all the trees, Slowly gradually, it colors all the leaves. It’s only during this season,           That we gaze for so long at any tree. The more you observe,           The more colors you’ll get to see. Some leaves have fallen, and some have not; It’s such a delight to see them, until they have been cleared out. Orange, yellow, red or brown. Eventually they all are going to fall down. Let’s enjoy the sight, until it has gone away. Go out, feel the fall, take beautiful pictures and enjoy the fall in your very own way. It’s time to cheer, as fall is ...

Ups & Downs Everyone’s life has ups and downs, happy times.. not-so-happy times. Some say that we are at our best self during hard times and it is a blessing in disguise. This is absolutely true. But after all we are human beings, we have a heart, we have emotions. When something changes, it disturbs us. And we want it to fall in place as soon as possible. And if it takes time, our frustration increases. All this is very natural. But if things are not working in our favor, maybe it’s not the good time, may be something better is in store for us, we never know. So, we should sometimes just go with the flow, instead of just worrying. And instead utilize such time to try something new. And whatever happens, whether things work our way or not, it should not affect our happiness a bit. Our happiness should not be dependent on materialistic things. If it is, then it is transient and one day it will again go away if anything changes. We, ourselves have the ability to keep ourselves h...

When things don’t feel right, and you don’t know why it is so It’s time to remind yourself to Just “Let it go” When you expect others to think like you, And it makes you angry because they are not doing so.. It’s time to remind yourself to just “Let it go” When you start expecting more, And you just cannot listen to “No” It’s time to remind yourself to just “Let it go” Arguments only drain our energy.. But if you are getting into one, take it slow.. It’s time to take a pause, take a deep breath and just “Let it go” Maintaining relationships is never easy.. And if you realize that your relationship is getting strained with the important person you know.. Focus your energy on the good times you’ve had and for negative things Just “Let it go” Some days are good, some are bad. That’s how life is meant to flow.. If you really love someone, come on and let it show.. And for the bad day, Just “Let it go” “Let it go”  “Let it go”

I am trying to understand what is best shutter speed for capturing the best look of waterfall. And I learned that there's no absolute value for all waterfalls. Every waterfall is different in terms of flow, the flow can be light, moderate or heavy. So you have to keep trying different shutter speeds and see which one satisfies you. Recently, we went for hike to Franklin falls and falls were at the end of the trail. It was a good opportunity to play with different shutter speeds. Have a look, below each picture I have mentioned the exposure info.. Exposure: 1/50, F Number: f/6.3, ISO: 100 Exposure: 1/40, F Number: f/7.1, ISO: 100 Exposure: 1/20, F Number: f/10.0, ISO: 100 Exposure: 1/10, F Number: f/14.0, ISO: 100 Exposure: 1/5, F Number: f/18.0, ISO: 100 I am still not satisfied with pictures taken so far, still waiting for that best waterfall click. Until then, it's WORK-IN-PROGRESS.. I am satisfied with the following picture taken by me....

So, what I think about the most these days I was thinking.. You see we human beings think a lot. Robin Sharma has mentioned in one of his books that an average human being thinks about 65,000 thoughts in a day. And 85% of those thoughts are the same as yesterday. But these days, my today’s thoughts are not only same as yesterday but also same as what I have been thinking since past few weeks or may be months. I have a son who is no longer a baby but a TODDLER!!!! WOOHOO!! And he’s changing and growing every day and every moment. Garv, who needed my assistance for everything he did, no longer seems to enjoy the fact of me assisting him.  Suddenly he has got so much confidence in himself that he wants to do everything on his own. And he, also tries to do the same things we do. Like when my husband is vacuuming the house, he wants to do it too. When I am turning on the light of temple, he wants to do it too. And he has become an expert in imitating. This is of course a good ...

Storytelling – The Folk Tale (7-9 minutes) The Canny Bunny No matter how old or mature we get, sometimes we all like to behave like kids, remember how you use to sit around with friends listening to folk tales from a wise elder. For next few minutes, just forget your age, set aside all your worries, go back to your childhood days. And now we are going to have a circle time and I as your teacher will tell you an interesting story. And here it goes…. This is the Jungle story, a jungle where all different types of animals used to live and yes, there was also a king of the Jungle – The Big and Mighty Lion!! Being the strongest of all animals, he used to dominate the entire jungle and would eat animals as and when he wanted to satisfy his hunger. The other animals were constantly living in fear because if it was not their day, they could be the next target of the lion. And there was no consistency in the hunting pattern of the Lion. Sometimes he would eat a single animal per da...

Be a spectacularly good listener Have you ever wondered what factors help you deliver your speech successfully? Of course there is lot of preparation, research, and practice behind every successful speech. But there is one more important factor that provides encouragement to you. And that is effective listening by your audience that keeps you going. If you see heads nodding, or their body language inclined towards you, you know they have gifted their attention to you. And it's so much motivating as having somebody's attention has really become a scarce commodity. People are so much self-absorbed and bombarded with so much of information they can hardly spare their attention to speaker in front of them. How many people you know who, while you speak to them, make you feel that world around them has stopped because they have genuine fascination with what you speak and what is going to come out next of your mouth? How many people listen to you with so much intensity of conc...

"The man who does not read good books is no better than the man who can't." I had been thinking aloud about what topic I should deliver for my P9. And it was from Toastmasters site that I got idea of sharing something I am passionate about. This idea was quite helpful I must say. I am pretty passionate about reading. Whenever I find some free time, I see it as an opportunity to read. And my speech is dedicated to all the busy folks who are too busy to spare some time for reading good quality stuff. Just as food is essential to keep your body healthy, so is reading to keep your mind healthy. When we were kids, our parents used to persuade us to dedicate some time daily for our subject. We all would agree not all subjects were so interesting. And knowledge per se, I think it was hardly beneficial as that type of reading was by force and not by will and moreover it was only and only for marks. If I throw any question to you on what we learned in our school, will all of...

 Start your day with a Positive, says the famous author of book ‘You can Win’ Shiv Khera. As of now, the thing that I like to start my day with is reading couple of pages from yet another famous book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’.  The second habit of this book has left me spellbound, it has touched my soul. TMD, fellow toastmasters and guests, today I am going to talk about the learning that I have taken from Habit 2 of Seven Habits and that is about importance of relationships in our life. Before explaining Habit 2, Stephen Covey has asked the reader to do a visualization exercise. And I would request all of you present here to forget about everything for a while, get rid of all thoughts that must be pondering in your mind and listen efficaciously to my words and try to visualize the situation. Imagine you are going to a funeral, you feel the shared sorrow of losing. As you move forward to offer your prayers to the lost one, you suddenly come face t...

Once you are in love with books, you can never live without them. Some way or the other you’ll try to spare some time for a good read, isn’t it? It makes you feel so alive. And it’s not only about what you read but also what place you sit to read. Quiet ambience makes you feel so connected with the book; it takes you to an altogether different world.  Library is one such place and if you can visit library for your reads, then you are really the lucky one. Busy parents like me normally don’t get much time for libraries. We visit library only to pick up new books and return old books. There is vast ocean of knowledge lying in all those books of library and I always get this feeling ‘I want to read all of them’ J I know I know it’s not possible, may be during retirement age, haha, just making promises to myself.  Robin Sharma suggests ‘you should spare at least half an hour daily for quality read’. I try to follow this practice, but since most of the time we a...