Fragments from my childhood

It was 1990 and I was 5 years old. I was with my sister waiting for the driver to pick us up from school. It was 3:30pm and he hadn't shown up yet. The mischevious side of me started to take precedence. An idea struck. I suggested we do something new....Walk all alone without having someone guide us..I took my sister's hand and we started walking. She was nervous and wasn't sure where we were going...and me...well, neither did I :). But the excitement was worth a try.

We started walking. We talked lot...We talked about the lake beneath the bridge, the temple on roadside, the need for a railway crossing, the reason for billboards, and all other crap. We chased butterflies, tore pages from our notebooks to set paper boats sailing on the lake, laughed and enjoyed, oblivious of the surroundings and people. It was fun, and for sometime, we had completely lost track of time and place. All the other school buses and autos (vow..I miss them) were long gone. We were there hanging around the the lake side and playing some random games, until we realized we had to go home. That was when the crying started for my sis. I on the another hand, like a macho, consoled her and took out the 5 rupee "emergency-expense-only" bill from my bag and headed to the local booth to call my dad. This was pre-cell phones era. So, I had to call my dad's office and have the office assistant connect the call to my dad. Chaos had already set in at his office. My dad had already left looking for us and the only way for the office assistant to let my dad know was to follow him in his Bajaj scooter. He eventually did and finally got us back home.

Well, life does open up certain moments that eventually turn memorable in ones life. They might be a mistake at that point of time, but it does leave behind good memories to think back and smile upon. Truly enough, that wasn't a good decision to walk alone, my parents weren't happy about my mischief, I was cut off from my allowance for a month...but hey...it was worth it.. :)

To this day, that's one of the most memorable walks I've ever had in my life.

Being at the right place.....at the right time

Well, we've all gone through this, but we don't realize it quite often. It's strange when things mysteriously work together and brings us to right places at the right time to meet the right people. The big memorable moments in one's life, come in small surprises. 

Sometimes they bring in good...like:
1. Walking into a random building and getting a job you weren't aware of.
2. Finding a new friend with no previous introduction or acquaintance.
3. Helping a stranded woman with her flat tire or a stranger who met with an accident.
4. Running into your childhood friend or a teacher, you had lost contact years ago.
5. Most of all...our very existence in this beautiful life and the people who turn out to be our relatives and loved ones.

But sometimes, these so called "memorable pre-planned moments" backfire too...like:
1. Running into your boss at a movie theater or a football game, while in sick leave.
2. Meeting a loud gossipy friend while sitting in need for quiet privacy time.
3. Things going wrong when they're not supposed to (people in IT can speak for this).
4. Being pulled over for speeding by a cop who had a bad day, even though you were driving "with the flow of traffic".
5. Finding yourself short of an exact change of 25¢ to pay for the toll, and ending up paying a fine amount of $25.

Ultimately these surprises whether good or bad, does end up bringing a smile on our face, a tear in our eyes, a person as a lifemate, a friend for all seasons, a shoulder to rest, arms to hug, a lesson learnt....or at the worst,  a slap on our cheeks. :)

It’s just being there at the right time to accept it whole-souled.

Perception of Intuition

Intuition is an inner voice that maneuvers a major part of our life. The voice that instructs to quickly change lanes when a reckless driver slams his brakes in front of us, yells when we're about to run a traffic light, urges to dance while in rain, initiates a thought to help someone in need, are all examples of intuition in our day to day life. Surprisingly, they do know the truth and they tell us at the right time. But we don't always listen to it. We intend to go beyond the inner voice and undertake a chance. The results are mostly bad then.

The courage to listen to the heart and respect its voice is probably one of the biggest challenges we face. This is because quite often, we all worry what others think about us and our decisions and actions depend on the likes and dislikes of someone who is NOT us. We sure need to respect the thoughts, compliments and positive criticism by people who matter to us, but not at the cost of our inner voice. When we continue to live someone else's life and change our thoughts and actions to please the society, we wake up one day realizing that we have lost our individual personality, the person who we thought we would be, or always wanted to be. Most of the times, it's too late when we realize this.

Intuition surely, is an immense power that we all possess for a reason. By listening to it, we might not always be right. Things might not always end up in a way expected. But isn't life a game of maze? It sure isn't fun when we blindly work our way out by following the footsteps of another player.

Do not follow where the path may lead.  Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

See to believe

Do we really HAVE to see something to believe it? Does everything depend on equations that can be solved and answers that can be proved? 

The MIND...Wikipedia defines mind as "the aspect of intellect and consciousness experienced as combinations of thought, perception, memory, emotion, will, and imagination, including all unconscious cognitive processes"

Per science, doesn't all the above listed thoughts, perceptions, memory, emotions, will, imaginations etc. narrow down to electrical impulses in the neurons and couple of chemical reactions that take place due to the hormones? But, definitely these occurrences are more complicated and self-sustaining than proved by man. 

The mind therefore is something that defies the need for scientific facts to prove it. A child doesn't need a DNA report to acknowledge the warmth of its mom. Animals don't need a scientific validation to recognize, nurture and care their little ones. Likewise, there are amazing mind-blogging occurrences that take place in this universe to which science does not have an explanation. Ultimately, science was developed by man, and would hence be limited to his discovery alone. But that doesn't rule out the existence of the undiscovered. 

Well, definitely there does prevail something beyond evidences, equations and solutions.

The belief to see..

Imperfectly Perfect

"Being Happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you have decided to look beyond imperfections.” - Anonymous

Life takes us on a roller coaster where we encounter varied situations and different people with diverse interests. It's full of uphills and downhills, the design of nature..Not everyday is a good day at work. Not everyone you meet makes you feel good. You don't always get a chance to be the first one standing in a line. The coffee in your pot isn't always full and steaming hot. An intention to help someone doesn't necessary always help them. The stoplights might not always turn green as you approach them. The stranger you meet, might not always smile and reciprocate back at you.
But, isn't that the beauty of life? If everything seemed perfect always, the joy of unexpected suprises disappear. The situations and people we encounter, all come with certain characteristics that define them as an individual. Accepting them wholeheartedly and acknowledging the little imperfect things they treasure, can be compared to the beauty of a jigsaw puzzle that amazingly interlocks imperfect shapes to finally form a meaningful picture.

No one is perfect. But conjunction of imperfect things does make one.