Self-Realization via Darjeeling

Wake up at 7 am. Get ready by 8. Leave for office amidst unbelievably crazy traffic. Work like "Professional" till evening. Get back home. Work again like a slave till late night. This is my routine for the past 6 months. Something which I never wished would happen to me. But all the depression and angst is dissolved in the air when the payslip comes in my hand every month end. But is this the purpose of my life? Is money and wealth what I should be aiming for in my life? Well, I got the answer to this question during a short trip to Darjeeling last week.

In a quest to discover a very important aspect of my individuality, I started off my journey to the most beautiful hill city in the country, Darjeeling. Situated around 75 km from the city of Siliguri, the road to Darjeeling itself was a great experience with narrow road and the rail for toy train running in parallel. After 3 hour journey in a Sumo car, I reached the most beautiful place I have ever been to.

Darjeeling has no luxury amenities like the ones in metro cities like Bangalore. The roads are too narrow for two vehicles to pass by, there is no metro, there is no strong mobile connectivity, no good public transport facility, no good colleges for higher studies, no good job opportunities for the youngsters and definitely no pubs. :P . The students have to walk miles, climbing hills and rocks to reach schools and the women have to start working early morning in tea estates. They don't have any luxury which we guys in big cities take for granted.

First I thought, "How miserable?". Then I realized how happy the people were. Regardless of their religion, sex, wealth and status, people were happy. They always smiled. They were very co-operative. They were very welcoming and they were very forgiving. The people of Darjeeling.

I was awe struck. It made me think. All my life I wanted to study in the best of colleges and attain the best of degrees and work for the best of companies and earn the best of salaries. I have achieved all those already. Am I satisfied? Yes I am. But am I happy? No, am not. I can enjoy all the luxuries and pleasures the city of Bangalore opens in front of me every day. It helps me throw out all the frustrations out of my mind. But does that make me happy? No.

So what is more important in life? A job and life which is so hectic that you are unable to enjoy small things in life which is valuable but confers you with a heavy pay cheque or a happy life? I ll choose the latter any day.

The pressure of "being successful" is so much on our children from the very early age that we forget to teach them the real values which each and every individual should have. Love, affection, respect, kindness and most importantly, happiness.

I still remember an incident which happened with one of my family friends. The husband was a Businessman and wife  a Doctor. They had a son who was 9 years old and they wanted the "best" possible education for him. So they got an interview appointment in one of the "best schools" in the country. The interview day arrived and both the parents and the child were sitting inside the Principal's chamber for the interview. Everything went well. The child answered all the conventional interview questions in a conventional way and everyone were happy.
Then the Principal asked the child "Son, what is your aim in life?"
Before the child could answer the question, his father replied "He will become a scientist". Then the mother replied, "He will become an IAS officer". The Principal smiled at the parents and looked at the child. The child looked scared. The Principal asked him "Son, you should be answering this question. Tell me, what is your aim in life?".
The child replied, "I want to become an auto driver who takes children to school." All of them were shocked. The parents couldn't believe what they just heard from their son.
The Principal asked "Why?".
The child replied, "Everyday I see my parents. They are always busy. They don't have time to take me out. They don't have time even to talk to me. But my auto driver always talks to me. He takes all the children for picnic once in a while. Am more happy with him than with my parents. And he is always happy. I want to be him."

Why cant all the children think like this child? Why cant we help them think in this manner? Why cant we teach them that whatever they become, be happy?



That is what Darjeeling taught me. In fact, the people of Darjeeling did. What ever happens in my life from now on, I ll always put a smile on my face. I ll remain happy. I loose my job, I ll be happy. I loose my wealth, I ll be happy. I loose my status, I ll be happy. That's what matters to me the most now. Being happy.

Any reference to my Darjeeling trip would be incomplete without mentioning that special someone. Would that journey from Siliguri to Darjeeling have been as exciting if you were not with me? Would that sugar candy that we had at Chowrasta have been as sweet if you were not there to share it with me? Would that evening walk along The Mall road have been as memorable if you were not walking beside me? The answer is NO. A big fat NO. You are the reason why my journey was successful. You are the reason why I even started the journey. You, you, you...!!!!! Thank you very much...!!!!

Here I am, flesh, blood and stone.. You in mind,  you in beats, you in the soul.

The dominant species

The city of Bangalore has always fascinated me. I had more than one reason to love the city, the most important being the fact that its the city of my favorite sports star Rahul Dravid. Other reasons include the awesome climate, beautiful people and the cosmopolitan culture. So when I got an offer from Wipro Technologies to join them as Senior consultant in Bangalore as a part of our campus placement, I was more than happy to accept the offer. I would have anyway accepted the offer because frankly speaking, that was the only offer I had. But the fact that the offer came from Bangalore was icing on the cake.

I remember once my uncle telling me that if you pick up a stone and throw it in the Bangalore city, it will either fall on an engineer or a dog. Well, he was right one hundred percent. Here in Bangalore, the population of engineers will surpass the entire population of some of the smaller countries. And as far as the dog population is concerned, the engineer population will take a back seat. If you are afraid of dogs, trust me this city is not for you. You will find more dogs in the streets than humans. And even more fascinating is the variety of dogs one can find here. You will find black, white, brown (which are common) and the not so common yellow, red, orange and violet even. Even combination of these colors. And am sure, even the best of dog experts and enthusiasts would be amazed by the variety of breeds. One can find street dogs which belong to distinct family of even Rottweiler and Pug. Fascinating indeed.
You will find more dogs 'jogging' in a park than people. No wonder they are so fit and strong and we are not. During day time, they are so well behaved and mannered that you will indeed start believing in the phrase "Dog is a man's best friend". But once the office timings are are over and the sun sets over the city, this phrase goes for a toss.They start barking at you showing anger on you for using "their" streets and "their" city. The best experience you can have is if you are riding a bike. They will not just bark at you but start chasing you scaring the shit out of you. I had an experience myself at 2 a.m in the night. Now please don't ask me where I was going at 2 a.m in the night. The most shocking experience I had was two days earlier. Myself and my friend were enjoying a cup of coffee after dinner at a shop near our house. Suddenly we heard screeching sound of a vehicle. Next thing we saw was a husband, wife and their child lying on the road with wounds and cuts. They were travelling on their bike, probably going for a family dinner or movie, when they were suddenly chased by a dog. The husband lost control of the bike and they fell. God's grace that they managed with injuries which was not fatal.
That point of time, one question passed through my mind. Who is stronger? Who belongs to the dominant species?Man or Dog? My answer is Dog, at least in Bangalore. Even if you are a member of PETA or other animal welfare groups, you want human beings to remain as the most dominant species on the planet. And the way it is going on now , we will loose our city to another species.

My first Love...!!!!

Everyone says its hard to forget your first love. I would agree to it a billion times. My first love will always be there in my heart throughout this lifetime. I may get married to some girl one day, but I'll never forget my first love. I don't remember exactly I saw her for the first time nor do i remember when I fell in love with her. But I can say one thing for sure that she is the most beautiful and the most exiting thing that has ever happened to me. I still remember those days in my childhood where the only thing I used to do was think about her all day and loose concentration in my 'studies'. Times when the only thing that mattered in my life was she, my first love. There are people who like her and there are people who hate her. But I promise you my love that I ll never stop loving you. Never ever in my life will I forget you. She changed my life for better. She made my evenings exiting. She gave me the sweetest of the dreams. I could spend days without food but I couldn't spend a day without thinking about her. I watched her grow in front of me. I watched her blossom in front of me. After years and years of love for her, I had to go away from her. The inundating pressure of academic excellence from all part of the society forced me to go away from her, a decision which I still regret. Am sorry for that my love. But I want you to know that I ll always be there for you. My first love, CRICKET.....!!!!!