MUMBAI - The true metro !!

You must have obviously guessed that this post is about the time I spent in that lovely city. But why should I say it as the “true” metro…. Having myself grown up in Chennai my entire life?? Though I haven’t visited the other so called metros of this country…Friends trust me, this wonderful city is the only one which fits the definition of a metropolis – a large city with an urbanized culture.

Though I spent just 2 months in this beautiful place, I had one experience of a lifetime. Hmmm…did I just say beautiful?? that too Mumbai !! As soon as one mentions the name of this place, the images that come to the mind of many are the ever-expanding filthy slums (Especially after the resounding success of Slumdog millionaire). Yes I did see parts of that too … just a glimpse may be. But I don’t wish to associate this city with just that. After all, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder!! The first view of this city, as I was proceeding from the station to the hotel, left me in awe… the broad clean roads (of course minus the traffic), huge flyovers… and the ride across the Thane creek as the sun was just rising above the mountains was so special. One thing I thought was absolutely true; the Mother Nature has blessed every place with her abundance, if only you care to look.

Moving onto the actual city life… there is only word to describe it best – SPEED!! Some might say that’s how life is in every city, but here it is in its most superlative form. OMG, I can’t say how restless people are moving around here, always running after something. I actually kinda like it because even on a day when you are feeling a bit low, the city’s vibes fill you with so much energy and enthusiasm. The malls here are the biggest I have ever seen. What you find in Chennai are some micro-mini attempts to re-create something of that sort. You can find every international brand that exists on earth in those malls. Speaking of brands, if you are the person who is not so brand-conscious (like me, not because it’s a philosophy I follow but because I don’t know any brands to really follow :-P) …. For such people also Mumbai is the place to be. You can spend endless hours doing street shopping. But I couldn’t because of the rains. Oh, speaking of the monsoons… so many people told me it’s the best time of the year in this city. I too just had a glimpse of it. It’s amazing to see how this city prepares itself for the rains. They give a totally new look and feel to the whole place, making one fall in love with it.

It would be completely unfair if I fail to say about the suburban train transport, which is the lifeline holding this huge city in place. It is a nice experience to travel in those crowded trains, dodging your way through. When you have to get down you just have stand near the doors and the crowd will carry you out (that was no exaggeration please) !!! I really loved every place I went around in this city. It still carries the reminiscences of the colonial rule in some parts but vibrates with the modern trends in other places. The perfect co-existence of such contrasts is what makes this city so exciting. That’s Mumbai for you – an enlivening experience.
Yeh hai MUMBAI meri jaan!!!

PS – I might have missed out a lot of vital things which the localities will know better. But I am no expert in writing a travelogue. Besides 2 months is hardly a time to know about this wonderful city.

laksh:)

Love of your loved ones

Your task is not to seek love, but merely to seek & find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it

The first line probably doesn't make much sense now, but i am sure it will when you have finished reading this post.

In any of the relationships i have had till now, its never been that the other person has been expressive about their love and care. I am generally a very frank and expressive person and so initially it was really difficult for me to understand people around me - my parents, my friends and everyone else... i would never be able to feel the other person's affection for me and i would be upset about it. I always used to feel very bad that when i could show my love and care for someone, why am not it getting it back from anyone??? I used to doubt whether they truly like me or not... why is it that i was left to feel so lonely all the time???

I used to console myself that may be i was just meant to brood over it this way and i could not come out of it. Sometimes i got very angry but that did not help. It just made things worse and i was almost going to lose one of my dear friends. Even after that i never realised what is the mistake. But later on the truth dawned upon me .... since i was always on the look out for the visible signs of care i failed to see those invisible ones which always existed. In every small thing that the other person does for you the affection is there. Every moment in which you just exist in their thoughts, it means they LOVE you. Each and every person's emotional feelings and the way they express it is very different. We have to accept this and once this sinks in, you can feel the love the person has for you even when they don't say it.The immense joy and happiness this feeling will bring you is truly indescribable. I have felt it and i hope each of you will feel it definitely one day if you haven't already!!

laksh:)

Ripple effect !!

When you throw a stone into a still pond, the ripples that it creates brings some movement and life back into that place. Similarly an idle mind is kindled by some discussion or argument one has, which sets the thought process going....
this post is a realization because of my thoughts that was set into motion by my loving bro!!

i happened to discuss with him about how you think that, a person is doing something for you but in the end you realise they were doing it for their personal benefits. How 'selfish' they had been and you have been ignorant of it all the while... you feel hurt when you come to know of it in the end. But he questioned me back saying, " Who in this world is not selfish?? Everyone always does something because they are getting something out of it." Initially i thought he was talking about it in the sense that, How we often say of the present world where people are driven by material gains and fail to give importance to human values and emotions.

But he said that its not just got to do with such kind of people alone. But that's how EVERYONE are !!! I was a little perplexed. i din't quite understand what he meant by that. I couldn't imagine how everyone could be selfish. Isn't that supposed to be a not so good virtue, that we have been taught from our childhood, in our so called 'moral science' classes !! then how it could be possible that there is not one person in this world who does something for others. To add further to my confusion he said, there is no such word called "selflessness" !!! it is a farce.. just doesn't exist....

This actually enraged me and and i hit him back strongly, this is definitely not true. Then there is no meaning for the works done by great people like Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa. I was arguing that he was wrong. But he just calmly replied "think about it !! " and left. This set an intellectual (!!??) search and the discovery of the truth in the end was really pleasant. I realised that behind every act of a man there is some personal motive that one wants to achieve. It is like in Maslow's hierachy of needs - especially the higher order needs. ( C'mon people i am a management student !! :-P )We seek personal satisfaction in everything we do and there is nothing wrong in it. Its the same with even Mother Teresa. I am not trying to undermine her greatness. She did serve countless poor and homeless people. But she did that because she derived personal satisfaction out of it. So there is definitely nothing wrong in doing something for yourself.

But the difference lies in the aspect that, when one tries to achieve something at the cost of someone's efforts or life. This is where it crosses limits and turns bad. So behind every act of a human, if you look deep inside, you can find the real motive that he is trying to satisfy. In the end the act doesn't count but the thought matters !!!

Ripples to be continued ......