What's Up, Man!

 

Smartphones are the necessary evils that keep our day busy with activities. With the amount of software downloads, as such, our life is centered on finger tips. Facebook, PIP Camera, EBook  Reader  and many such applications are in offer. These  are not only useful but also sources of image enhancers, which keep  the happy hormones flowing. Along with these, there is this software called WhatsApp messenger that offers cost cutting messaging applications and easy functionalities to keep us connected and entertained 24X7.

I remember the first time I set a Facebook profile. The long lost friends and acquaintances were soon only a click away. Yet with time, logging on, updating, reading the comments and counting the number of likes were waning away. My face then searched only for mails, the messages my friends and acquaintances from the book, sent through Facebook message system. Wow. That was such a relief. I was no more worried about a PC, an android phone insisting on software download, and if ignored the profile or pictures going public.

That is when I was gifted an android phone. My well-wisher, my husband, wanted me to have all the facilities under one roof. And he introduced me to WhatsApp.

What’s up? I cried out. Hush hush, as it sounded, I defined it as an application that did not disturb me much, especially when the setting is put on silent mode. And at the same time, it helped me share the messages, videos and images on an immediate basis. Along with it, there was entertainment in the form of jokes, current affairs, notification, and information circulation, which brought the WhatsApp users on the same platform.

Interestingly, the same joke may come from more than one contact and so do the dissection of news, views or even the jokes, for that matter. Though I am a lazy Facebook user when it comes to  reading and liking various Facebook pages, I could not resist ignoring the little jokes, and tit-bits on WhatsApp.

Wonder, who are the people behind? I like to call them the creative heads that can visualise and execute a joke from nothing. At the same time laugh at situations and make a joke based on their personal experience.

And as I kept myself fully occupied as a WhatsApp user, the dear old Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion, at a time when there were about one billion users.

Now, what do I say, we belong to both Facebook and WhatsApp. And we love tampering with our privacy settings and account settings. The creative heads continue to churn, irrespective of the software, and the audiences continue to pursue their entertaining and messaging means. In short, we feel smarter day by day in our online world.

Music Writes:Remembering Rabindranath Tagore

Some days I sit long hours glaring into the computer screen. I know what I want to write. But, the words simply refuse to come and thoughts vanish into oblivion. Here I am in one such boundless moment where, the mind is behaving meditative and I sense an absolute blankness.

However, somewhere deep within, I hear one of my favourite Rabindrasangeet play.

“Aaguner parashmoni chhnoao praane

E jibon punnyo karo……….”

The lines literally mean “purify my soul”.

And blessed I feel. I do not remember the ‘first time’ when I got to listen to this song. But I do remember the ‘every time’ when I listen to this song and am overwhelmed with emotions. The lines written in Bengali  with its in-depth meaning, spoke the universal language. It touched my heart deeply.

It is then that I picked up an English translation of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali (Song Offerings), a collection of poems. To me, the precious creation is an honest heart’s journey of life in communion with the Almighty, and the spiritual connection in every simple thing that makes them the most extraordinary beings in life.

This year marks Gurudev’s (as he is fondly called) 154th Birth Anniversary (May 7, 1861). His creative endeavours are still refreshing. To quote one of my dearest friends from West Bengal, “Meaning changes with each passing phase of life….That’s the magic of Gitanjali.” “That’s the magic of Rabindrasangeet too,” I added.

Little wonder, my mind plays his music magically therapeutic. And I write, the words from my heart.

Binding Memories

Life without gadgets, especially our dear mobile phones, has become a dream impossible to even imagine. A recent incident in my friend’s life, was about to make me believe the same. The endless list of contacts, the pictures clicked at various occasions, the thoughtless pranks captured, family and friends in different poses, and the downloads from mails saved…. 

These minicomputer like devices, technically speaking, the high end phones with high end technology, bring the world into the small frame, and link us to the people, places and things at the tap of our fingers, which are too large for those tiny keypads. Hmn…. 

A day without that phone was miserable for her. 

Two days after the loss was reported, a complaint was filed; and then the phone reappeared miraculously. Yes, miraculously. God knows the reason for it. 

My friend was surprised… Happy … Life could not have been more joyous. 

Of course, expensive it was. And the plan to buy a new mobile phone was discarded. 

My friend decided to reset the instrument with the new SIM and bring her life back on track.

She opened the phone carefully and I could see shadows of unhappiness setting in. I could not help but look in her direction. The storage card or memory card was missing. 

In that shocked moment the only thing I could hear and remember was…. “Somebody has wiped my memories”. She did not cry. No tears rolled out. 

As a friend I stood by her watching. So right! Her memories….

The instrument was instrumental in binding memories. What will we be if our memories could not be captured? In bits they remain, somewhere ingrained in our subconscious….

Connected, Yet Disconnected

A life was gone. I didn't know. A condolence message to that friend, which appeared as the recent update on my social networking site took me by shock. I sat to remember the last interaction; it was a birthday post on my friend’s profile.

Social networking sites are the new means of staying connected with friends. School, college, office colleagues, neighbourhood and like-minded people from our profession. The friend list goes on increasing and decreasing, oft and on, as and when, people move in and move out due to their own personal reasons. 

However, the question that continued to haunt me was "do we really stay in touch with each and every individual from our friend's list?" I would not have thought about it had it not been for a friend whom I lost recently. 

Today that friend is a living profile on the social networking site.  Many may be still waiting for the site to update on the individual’s birthday; a day we chose to wish our friends. Here, I search for an appropriate word, “friend”, “acquaintance” or “contact”. Whoever it is, we hardly know most of the people in our endless list.

On the hindsight, social networking site is an excellent platform to build network. This does not necessarily mean emotional connects. A practical approach to life and the concept of “live, and let live” is the rule to live.

I wished for once to reconnect with my dear and near ones. I was happy that I still could get to speak to them over the phone. I knew they were all safe and sound. And that my cyber indulgence is a far cry from reality. A farce of true value of friendship.

Petrol Price Rise Vs. Sentimental Values

Wish we had foreseen what was coming our way when planning a future to owe a vehicle. The recent rise in the petrol price has affected the set budget for fuel allowances at every home. Reminding very much of mid- life crisis in a human life, mid-May was no different.  

The State-owned oil companies had raised the price of petrol by Rs 5 inviting the displeasure of people in India. This morning, a leading newspaper carried another hint at a possible hike in petrol price by Re 1, “if the cost of crude bought by them (State-run oil companies) remains at the current levels.”  

Turn of events for good or worse, the petrol vehicle owners, at least a few known to me, were in two minds. “Should we go for a diesel vehicle?” or “Should we change our vehicle into CNG or LPG?” Also, since the situation has triggered from petrol price hike, there was a very thin chance of getting a good price if they were planning to sell off their existing petrol vehicles.

Many of us have learnt to live with the situation by shelling out the recommended prices. “What to do, we have to keep moving” is the utmost we say and do. That’s not all; we continue to indulge in discussions, and purge our repressed energies with little actual solutions. 

I could not imagine our priced possession - our car - is suddenly an expensive affair. An artefact representing merely a status symbol in society?  In the past few trips that we had taken, our thoughts were vaguely playing with the idea of giving away our small petrol luxury for something more economical.  

After one such journey, don’t know what had happened, but instead of walking towards our home I stood there looking at our car. A purple beauty with power steering, high end functionalities, sufficient luggage space and super comfort. It was simply irresistible. Of course, craze for branded cars never fade. 

Probably, I have not done anything like this before. However, I realised petrol and diesel hardly mattered to me, but the relationship did matter. The four-wheeler evoked old tales of associations only. From being a part of our friend’s wedding to providing comfortable journey to family, our car has shared every single moment.

There are many such fond memories…

Republic Day Chief Guest

Republic day celebrations not only evoke the patriotic fervour of the Indian citizens but also open the doors for international tie-ups.

Guest Country and Republic Day

I Lost My Job. Could This Be The Reason?

A friend of mine called up this morning to inform that she has lost her job. She did not cry but her sarcasm-filled tone could repeat nothing but what her immediate boss had to justify. In her words the "gyan-patti"... Guess what? REASON ONE: "The company feels you do not fit the company profile?" She wondered why did the company select me in the first place? REASON TWO: "At the same time I did not get any positive vibes from you?" She laughed, vibes from work or not being too pally with the boss? REASON THREE: "You lack energy." She chuckled, "Energy! I did not know that I was part of a health drink ad?" "But never once, he mentioned I was a bad performer." She added. Once she was finished with her statement, I sat to analyse. Somewhere I felt, the answer lies in the logic. "Your bosses actually find unreasonable reasons to make you leave your job willingly." Probably, these were the reasons cited to save his insecure seat? Summing up from my friends conversation, there appeared three possibilities that you need to check before deciding to join a company. One, It is better to choose a boss who is not of the same age group and experience. Second, if your boss has an ego that cannot distinguish the right and wrong, he sees you as a possible threat. And in recession friends turn foes. Third, your confidence and popularity with the team members gives rise to inferiority and insecurity. Neither she nor anyone, will ever know what turns your bosses off during recession.

Help Yourself, Love Yourself

Published in: http://ezinearticles.com/?Chapters-of-Life A self-help book comes in print. It becomes the best seller. The book shows us the things we know and guides us to follow it. It is a source to help you to lead a better life. Many read and follow the book to be better human beings and to be able to improve their life. But many others turn critics and ponder on as to why it had to sell when there is nothing new in the book. Agreeing with the critics, when put to think, you would be the first to comment, “The writer has just written all that we know.” But still you do not put it to practice. You are right when you say you know it all. The only difference is - these are the simple lessons of life you do not take into consideration as necessary. Instead, you love to find fault with others, and read the book with enthusiasm hoping to improve your own life. You are blind to your imperfection. You do not even take time to think, “Maybe I went wrong somewhere?” Indeed it is human tendency to feel jealous and indulge in self-pity when you miss a great opportunity; or when going gets tough. Yet, often you do not mend your way. You like to complain and hold someone else responsible for your mistakes. The chapters of life are very simple. - Love yourself first, before anything else. If you learn to love you, as who you are, loving others will follow soon. You may be talented, skilled and extremely efficient; but you feel your friend or sister is doing better. In this unwanted competition you fail to see your achievements. You lose out to yourself, giving others an opportunity, to further pull you down. - I came alone, I will go alone. Others are needed for my existence. Often you are faced with situations where you are all alone. When you fall sick, you are the only one who can take care of your body. Family and friends act as support systems, which help you to recover. This is just one example. There are many that you face on a day to day basis. The moment you realise the significance of your existence, you will learn to depend on yourself before looking out for someone to depend on. This will help you to become stronger to face tougher situations. - Look at the positive side of things. There are times when, whatever you lay hands on becomes hard to achieve. You refuse to give up, and fight back, because you know that you are gaining in the process. If you stop seeing the glass as half empty, you have miles to go. But always remember to be positive, read, write and spread positivity around. You will feel good and happy too. Even people you come across will be happy to have you around. - Learn to accept the situations and people as they are. You will never have an answer for, “Why this happened to me?” You do not have that much time to ponder and brood over it. The best solution then would be to accept it the way it is, and learn to adjust and accommodate yourself to every situation. For example, you work really hard on your office presentation that could decide your promotion. It is well received and appreciated by your management and co-workers. But when the promotion list is out, your name does not appear in it. You feel miserable, sad and unhappy. You wish not to return to the office anymore. When you do not have a job in hand, instead of creating a scene in public, think and act. Accept the situation as it is. And continue to be a part of it, till your turn comes - a new job if lucky, otherwise change your outlook and work for the organisation. - It is easier to change the way you see things than change the situation or people. You may question “Why only I need to change, when others are not making any attempts?” Simple, you have to live in the situation with the people. Of course, it is easy to teach children the book of life, but once you are in the path of being an adult or adulthood, making attempts to teach is futile. Self-help is the best help for a successful living. A little change in your attitude with a minor adjustment to the environment, you will find peace of mind and happiness taking the reign of your life.