From Mom to Mamma ... my Journey

Today being Mother's Day got me reminiscing...

So growing up...MOM was someone who took care of you, made yummy pulao, bought us clothes, we went to buy groceries and other stuff with, gave us medicines when we were sick, basically someone who was a phone call away and just hearing her voice meant "Everything would be ok"; that I will be alright. She taught us to be responsible, independent and self reliant. 

Then came Appy...my effervescent 3 year old. It is like he had full control over me from the day I knew of his existence in my belly. He became the virtuoso, with me mesmerised in his tunes. Me a  workoholic, hate-to-stay-at-home kinda gal, took a complete 180° flip and decided to rest and take a break . Never had I looked forward to meeting a doctor every two weeks, now I waited eagerly for a sonography, just to get a glimpse of him.  God granted my wish to see him albeit, a little early.  Even admist the pain, chaos and anxiety the charmer knew how to enrapture. The most relaxing times were during the Kangaroo Mother Care sessions (KMC) when I got to hold him close, cuddle and feel him close to my heart. This living, breathing bundle of heart beats was mine to take care and nuture. 

Then we got him home, and all the reading, learning, all preparations came to an halt when I had to call his pediatrician within 10 hrs of getting him home, because I had wrapped him in 3 layers in the hot hot May summer and his temperature sore. ... from then to the next six months his pediatrician (bless his heart) was on my speed dial. I remember the night nurse and me sleeping like a ball on a 5 by 5 bed in my anxiety of not leaving him alone with her. I remember we staying awake till 5am because Appy had not taken a feed and then relaxing when he finally did and Dr Pradeep came into check on him at 6am. I remember the aweful time when Appy had the flu and I became a General nebulizing him 3 times in an hour, every 4 hours for 10 days, the time that he had to be admitted with a little cannula in his even tinner hand. Taking care of him, making him strong became my zeal passion and mission. 

It feels like yesterday when he turned 1 and then 2 and now 3. He is in preschool, and though I promised myself it was no big deal,  I cried dropping him off on his first day of school. My little baby had grown into a baby boy. Today he is eagerly learning from everyone and absorbing everything in and around him. He is a source of love, joy, endearment, naughtiness and a little being with his own sense of self. Everyday I look at him and admire the little miracle that Appy is for me. He is  my source of love, driver to hope and keeper of faith. His questions, gestures and unconditional love are a healing balm for my soul and spirit. Appy, You little pixie, for all your mischief-makings, still have me wrapped around your little finger and spellbound, all you have to say is -- MAMMA.

Chor Chor ...

That is what Our Prime minister Mr Modi is calling all middle class Businessmen/ Women.  My humble request to you Sir, is to please get out of Delhi, come to a 2-tier town like Jaipur and live the life of a middle class business man for a few months. 

You might have been a chai wala, an "aam admi" but you have lost touch with ground reality.  Sir, let me be outright" I Don't want to pay taxes".   I do not want to  willy nilly give the Government almost 40-45% of my hard earned income.  here are my reasons :

1.  I know my trade and work hard at generating the income ...  the government machinery or services or infrastructure provided has worsened. Now my  time is more likely to be  focussed on the direct &  indirect tax people and how to keep them at bay.  So I have very little time to focus on my work but more on Sales Tax , commercial tax, entry tax and what-not tax people who will suddenly visit my premise and act as if they own it.   Last whole week because of your disruption  my business has been disrupted. Will you bear the cost of business and time lost or should I add it to the provision " For the greater Good" ?

2.  I want to know the percentage of tax revenue given by the aam adami the common poor Indian citizen?  I am in the 33% tax bracket so I am paying a lot more than  a few thousands of people, and what am I getting in return? I drive on the same potholed road. I am subjected to more torture by the government machinery ... the same machinery whose gears I pay for... all in the need to do my business peacefully   .. not to buy arms and ammunition Dear Prime Minister but to have the peace of mind to focus on running my enterprise so that I can make more jobs for the nation. By the way  you had a programme called "Make in India"  how is it going?

3.  That reminds me ....  Do you know unemployment is a bigger threat to this nation than black money ?  today it so so difficult to find talent .. given the sad state of education in our land due to archaic  policies like reservation not to mention  overpopulation and brain drain.   Can we even picture  Sundar Pichai  if he had decided to stay back and work in India?  he would have been a nobody just struggling within the system .  Delhi to Jaipur is the same distance as Berlin to Bonn.  It takes 6+ hrs to come to Jaipur from Delhi and 57 minutes from Berlin to Bonn.  Yes Sir, 57 Minutes, give me that kind of infrastructure and I will pay  because that way  government would have provided/ helped in getting skill and expertise easily to my business.  

4.  Oh and all that education cess collected how is it been used under the NSLDC programme .. I bet useful results will be apparent after 10 years right ?  how about Swach bharat cess ?  after 25 years?  How are the municipality cleaning up the city or their act?  Jaipur is still as dirty and filthy as possible.. A cousin returned from Dubai and mentioned that 1 gali of  Jaipur has all the kachara you will find in entire Dubai.  

 

I am tired maybe I should just sit at home, not work and stop paying taxes that the government uses to subsidize those who dont pay tax ( the major vote bank).  Being poor in this country is a double award ... not only i dont have to pay taxes  I am awarded with a lot of subsidies and I am the poster boy/girl of this nation. not to mention no sales tax or any tax guy will visit my humble premise.  Oh and no body will call me a "Chor"  and say he has his eyes on me ... i can just sit twiddling my fingers on the pavement and enjoy a cup of chai from the tapri wala and say what a Chai wala... way to go our Prime Minister.

The perfect quote for the day

I fail, I rise, I make mistakes,
I Live, I Learn,
I've been hurt, but I'm alive,
I'm human and I'm not perfect
But I'm THANKFUL.:)

Five More Minutes And We’re Going On A Bike Ride.....

I recently read a story about Kylie Minogue. She had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and her boyfriend sometimes found her crying on the bathroom floor.

He would firmly tell her, “Okay, honey, you can cry for just five minutes, then I’m taking you on the bike for a ride.”

She’d think, “Hmm. Actually a bike ride sounds pretty good.”

This is the attitude to take. It doesn’t matter if sorrow comes again and again, just each time draw a line in the sand. And beyond that line make

Hurtful experiences, ones that emotionally and logistically reset our lives, leave us with two choices: open up more or close down.

The braver choice—the one that will allow new things to enter your life—is to open up.

So how about setting aside a few weeks to unfold this a little more? If you can’t climb out, dig out. Book yourself a few sessions with a counselor whether or not you feel like it or think it will help.

Go in, sit down, see what happens. Give your heart the chance to say everything it wants regarding the relationship and whatever is entwined with it. What emerges may surprise you.

Give yourself a new and different

Cynicism vs keeping faith

For me finding love was a dream, should I give up because I failed? I still want to believe that here is someone who will love me.. adore my very existence...would want to make me happy in 1000 different ways...miss me when I am not around ...basically love me silly ...coz he saw and felt the 1000 different things that I did to make him happy ...coz nothing was more important than my love ... He felt that I complimented his life...bought fun, laughter, strength in his life as much as he did in mine. So for him everything was nothing without me to share with.
Is this me living in a fairytale...refusing to be jaded? 

Forgiveness

It is a wonder how and when you really connect to a song. I recently had an awakening moment listening to "Forgiveness" by Collective Soul :) ..it goes as under...

  

In my silence I would love to forget
But restitution hasn't come quite yet
And with one accord I keep pushing forth
I stretch my heart to heal some more

It used to be all I'd want to learn
Was wisdom trust and truth
But now all I really want to learn
Is forgiveness for you

As my seasons change I've now grown to know
When one's heart creates, one's soul doesn't owe
So I wash away stains of yesterday
Then tempt my heart with love's display 

anyways people howdy :) ? Life has been good, my younger sis recently had a baby boy so now the joy in my life has quadrupled ( incase this is an OHT ... I am now a proud aunt to 'four' nieces and nephews :) ). 

Redunancy ...

1. The state of being no longer needed or useful
2. The use of words or data that could be omitted without loss of meaning or function; repetition or superfluity of information.

...this is the word that can best encompass my state of mind these days, as I experience life within a new and improved universe:), the older experiences become redundant. Previous life seems like a book of stories to be cherished, deep morals learned but very clearly a thing of the past.:)

Anyways people ....Bangalore is a wonderful city, I am in abs love with the weather.. Amit goes out of his way to share his city and make me comfortable to the culture and life in the city. :) What to do if he is so adorable and caring ;).

Neways ..we both like taking adhoc trips...
The first one was to Agra to see the the Taj Mahal at sunrise...that was even before our honeymoon:D. We had to come to Jaipur for some work...and in the evening we decided to take advantage of the spare time and head to Agra. We left around 8pm and were in Agra in 3hrs. We stayed at a hotel 3oomts from the Taj:) ... next morning we walked to the most romantic monument at sunrise... what can i say people but that it was breathtakingly awesome....it made me believe in all that is romantic, scared and like we were meant to go there together:)

The second trip was to Kabini... this was my first road trip around Bangalore. The countryside was very green filled with paddy fields .... banana trees.. marigold fields .. very colourful and bright. My senses were engaged in the sights, sounds and foods of the different topography.:)
A whole list of South Indian food items has been appended to my list of fav foods :) thank goodness most of them dont append to my waistline:)... Me, GoldGym n Amit's theory about that experience will be another post all together.;P
Neways back to Kabini.. we stayed at a wonderful Orange County resort, that is located at the junction of Nagarhole and Bandipur National Parks. We went for a boat safari, jeep safari ..took a coracle ride . The Boat safari was awesome .. we saw tuskers...humongous crocodiles ... quite a few rare birds.... On the jeep safari we almost saw wild dogs making a kill ...but were interrupted by an unconscientious fellow in the jeep with us. :( ...after that, to Amit's utter dismay ..i was sleeping in the remaining safari... what can i say .. cool pure clean breeze..the earthy smell.. a warm body cuddled close.. what more does a girl need:).
(Yawn..... Big Yawn) ...time for me to doze off ...take care people .. have a blast ... will keep you posted on my adventures .... girl-let-loose in the city ... :) One last food for thought... the deepest most pleasure comes from the simplest smallest of things:)

elation & excitement..

:) I can hardly contain the joyful enthusiasm that has my spirits dancing these days. In a few days a new chapter, a new journey will start...I simply can not wait to start our walk together:).

neways people..June was a fairly adventurous month .... mom and I visited Dubai ... we stayed at the fabulous "Atlantis, The Palm" Hotel ( http://www.atlantisthepalm.com/ ) ... shopped n shopped and shopped till we dropped :D...well I did literally with all the bags i was dragging ... my ma can shop like nobody's business :)...the return journey in Emirates Business class was an awesome indulgence :)

I came back home to realize m going to be a grandma ... initially i wasnt excited about Fiona going the 'family way'...but with all the support and encouragement from Amit, it was very easy to be so happy for my oh so lovely bee-aatch :)....I became a grand ma to 8 adorable pups ..yipeee... both mother and seven pups are doing great ...we lost one .. but we found homes for the remaining seven.
One lesson i definitely learnt was that dogs are not humans ...dont treat them so ... well I should have got her spayed when she was 8-9 months... the reason i didnt was i thought it was 'inhumane' ... she should have a litter once ... bad decision ... coz not only did she become a mother so early on in her life ... but it creates health issues for her further down.
Neways ... we can not alter what happened but henceforth I am going to do more research where she is concerned and do what is best for my beloved pet.

Then came my bday ... Amit made it uber special by coming down and getting a very delicious chocolate truffle cake all the way from home :)...the 4 days he and mummy ji were here, just flew past ... we drove up to Nahargarh fort ..... walked in Central park ... ate Poha early morning at the bus stand ... shopped around ... went with the entire family to "Chowki Dhani"(http://www.chokhidhani.com/home.html)....Itx a treat watching him enjoying and savouring simple pleasures of life.... well itx a treat watching him ne which ways ;)

now all my thoughts have halted at him :) so before I fill more lines with mushy sentiments :P I would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you .. for your love and wishing me happiness.

On a lighter note...

A boy was eating chocolate and a man walks by
Man: eating chocolate is not good for health.
Boy: my granddad lived for 105 yrs.
Man: how? what was his secret ? eating chocolates??
Boy: No minding his own business.

:D

Ignorance is bliss

..any person who values his peace of mind and state of happiness, will tell you that he doesnt read the newspapers these days. News these days is all but North America and itx allies trying to play the big brother- be the stalwarts of democracy. If history and reality has to be checked ever since Vietnam these allies have all but created havoc in the name of restoring democracy.
The Vietnam war saw roughly 4 million civilian casualties, and till date Vietnam is a 3rd world country struggling to provide basic amenities to its people. Take the situation in the Gulf region, the toll of civilians dead, is mounting ever since the Gulf war, total chaos in the region, no peace restored, not to mention the sky rocketing oil prices. Would someone please explain how these wars benefit common people.. the normal civilian for whose sake these wars are fought? .
I believe in what goes around comes around...if NATO and itx allies create havoc on international soils.. they should expect that there lands are equally open to attack. Death of Osama Bin Laden will never bring back the loved ones lost in September 11 attacks. As long as America continues itx international attack policy more Bin ladens will be born.
It is no secret that the economy that benefits the most from any war is the American economy, however the trembles of economic collapse after 9/11 can still be felt, so why doesnt the American Govt. realise it is building a pyre for itx own people.
The common man's liberty and freedom (the two pillars of Democracy) are snatched away in all this melodrama. His perfume or bottle of water becomes a threat to the national security while the soldiers of his national army plunder and demolish nations to create more threat. Itx a vicious cycle. The only people who end up paying heavily for this brutality are the common men because they loose their life, homes, families, livelihood, soldier-sons, liberty and freedom.
Every American president who has agreed to war, is no different from Ratko Mladic. He too is a war criminal and should faces charges of genocide, extermination and murder, unlawfully inflicting terror upon civilians, murder, cruel treatment and should be punished.
I want to believe that human life is precious and no one has the right to terminate it for whatever mundane reason. This wide-scale murder in the name of democracy is so so mundane. Wars only lead to more wars and never to peace.

Women on Wanderlust

.. or WOW is a Bangalore based ..woman traveller phenomenon .. a travel club that organizes all-women trips the world over. It is the perfect solution for women who want to travel, but do not like the idea of travelling alone.

Neways .. the women on wanderlust in my scenario are Poorni and me. The last two weeks we have been wandering in the hills, mountains and valleys of Himachal Pradesh. The initial plan was to go with the YHAI group to Dalhousie for the six day "NATIONAL HIMALAYAN NATURE STUDY CUM TREKKING EXPEDITION-2011". However when we met in Delhi, we decided to go to McLeod Ganj instead.
Mcleodganj, is a suburb of Dharamshala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It has an average elevation of 2,082 metres (6,831 feet). Situated on the Dhauladhar Range,it is known as "Little Lhasa" or "Dhasa" due to its large population of Tibetan refugees. The Tibetan government-in-exile is head quartered in McLeod Ganj...(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLeod_Ganj).

We stayed two days in Delhi with Cheryl (Major Francis) and her adorable son Abhimanyu. It is amazing to see the transformation of Cheryl from a sweet, soft-spoken girl with long curly hair.. to the strong, commanding short-haired Major Francis :). Time just flies so fast...last that I saw her was in June 2001... a decade later we meet and though we all have gone in radically different directions ...it seems like we parted ways yesterday.:) Oh I miss the 'Dattaa Leela" days ..

After a bit of shopping frenzy at Delhi's Janpath Road, we left for hills. Waise let me add... our mode of transportation was my Altis and who else but Gopal driving us. :) Sigh my adventures would be incomplete without him :). Neways we drove for 12hrs continuously to reach the Kangra valley and stayed over for the night. The next day, we covered the remaining 30 km odd to Mcleod Ganj...only to find dearth of accommodation... we had forgotten that it was the long weekend (Good Friday) and so practically everybody from Delhi was in McLeodGanj.
Oh boy! the very, very narrow streets of McleodGanj were littered with vehicles ... not to mention the horns, noise n the pollution. The place was like an overcrowded market in Goa. I had pictured it to be a serene, calm n quaint town in the hills with sounds of Tibetan chants in the air and monks strolling in the lanes. The first night we did find accommodation about 1.5 km uphill from the town centre at a place called Dev Cottages. Hence begins the adventures :) ... on the way back we figured that the town centre ..was actually the centre for everything and staying far away would mean leaving a well lighted area to trek 1.5 km in almost pitch darkness... not to mention how freezing cold it was in the night ..brrrrrr... :) The place is all but 10km form a base of snow capped mountains.. though they are lovely to gaze ... they do make the night so cold .. oh so cold. :)

The second day .. we had scrumptious breakfast at a place called Nicky's and decided to change our residence to the rooms available there. Oh btw Nicky's has awesome food... we had delicious lemon cheesecake... fantastic Ravioli....steamed momos.. wonderful assortment of teas... mint.. ginger lemon honey... everything was finger licking :). Then we went to visit the Temple Complex and the sites.
... to be continued with pictures and more adventures... Kahani abhi bakki hai :D

Our beliefs . . .

our beliefs shape everything we see, everything we try, everything we risk and everything we create. Our beliefs shape who we are and who we might become.
I believe that love can transform anything. I beleive in possibilities. I believe in impossibilities that suddenly don't look that way anymore.
I believe that it is never over until it is over and I believe that every moment is a new opportunity to change your life.

Never Hide..

are the two words flashing prominently on my mental dashboard these days. I realize that there are so many experiences that I want to relish in this life time.. where do I have the time for inertia, fears, insecurities, doubts and other pile of things to hold me back :)

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be fabulous, brilliant, talented, gorgeous? Actually, who are you not to be, you are a child of God and you playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, like children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone of us. As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give people permission to do the same.As we are liberated by our fears, our presence automatically liberates others."
A very inspiring part from Nelson Mandela's 1994 inaugural speech as the elected president of South Africa.

Neways people February had me moving in and out of Jaipur. Walked down memory lane hanging out at college day hangouts... Sheetal restaurant ... same service ..same extremely sweet fresh lime water .. same fried rice .. same oily dosas :D took a ride in the local bus ( lal dabba)with the topiwalas :). Dragged Poorni to Bikram Yoga classes ... it is an abs awesome experience :) .. Yoga for 90 min in a hot room ... you discover, realign and realize the potential of your own body..itx like reconnecting with your core... thank you, thank you, thank you, Amit for suggesting we try it out (hugs, loads of them :)) ... n for all of you in US of A ... go for at-least one class, check it out n I will be waiting for the hugs :)

After an awesome week with Poorni, talking, shopping, walking, reading, watching '7 khoon maff'; went to Goa. The road trip to Goa with Anil was fantabolus.... not only was the way beautiful but we made it through all our set milestones in time ... lunched at the busiest Mc Donalds on that highway... stopped to admire the beautiful valley and sites on the way ... had excellent tea at a local store ... neways .. we reached our destination before Kanchan, Komila, Deepak and Rob :)
In Goa.. went to 4 beaches and a fort I have never visited before ... got a tan ... sacrificed my phone to the sea gods :) .. had breakfast at Britto's ... jumped around at Tito's ....walked on Varca Beach with Papaji. :) and totally unexpected.. Vinu turning up..it was abs wonderful :)
time just flew by...all kudos to Kanchan for planing this trip .. thanks girl :).

Itx past midnight ... time for me to snooze n get set for all adventures that tomorrow promises to bring :) good night and sweet dreams darlins:)

I can choose ....

Yesterday's Daily wisdom from Tiny Buddha was about we having the power to choose...

(http://tinybuddha.com/blog/we-have-the-power-to-choose/?utm_source=The+Tiny+Buddha+List&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=d602fdef9f-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN)

and the following lines were particularly inspiring ... btw I think the lady is an oracle..she can read in to my mind like open doors :)....

I can choose what affects me.

I can choose to not be damaged.

I can choose to not be afraid.

I can choose to not let situations depress me.

I can choose to look at mistakes as learning experiences.

I can choose to be confident.

I can choose to be happy.

I can choose to feel loved.

I can choose.
James at gothamknight33(AT)yahoo.com

my additions ...

I can choose to live a healthy lifestyle.

I can choose to love and respect the temple that is my body.

I can choose.

Thanks Poorni for recommending Rujuta Diwekar's latest book .."Women and weight loss Tamasha"
Her first book ("Dont Loose your mind, loose your weight") was a common sense approach to health and nutrition and this one is an eye-opener :).

We females in our quest to become the 'ideal' daughter (DiL), girlfriend, wife, mother, grandmother..etc etc ......neglect the one thing that supports and backs us in all our endeavours... yes we take our body as hell for granted. My dearest darlins..pick up the book it would do you a world of good ... please.. please.. pretty.. pretty.. please :) it is an wonderful experience listening to your body and falling in love with yourself. :)

Neways people today I drove a 42 seater bus ..yippeee ... No casualties, Gopal and Arjun (Bus's Driver) are hale and hearty...so now I have added to the list of vehicles for my Bollywood style elopement :) only have to patao the groom-to-be.

O KaTTaaa . . . .

no, no one or animal has dared to bite me (animals thankfully have that much sense) :)..neways people Happy Makar Sakranti...and in the spirit of the festival 'Tamaso Ma Jyotir Gamaya', may you go higher & higher, to more & more Light and never to Darkness.

Neways yesterday the skies here were full of colourful kites, everyone around was atop their roofs to fly kites and the shouts of "O.. Kattaa" were rampant :).

We went down to the Kite flying organized at Jal Mahal, (lake Palace) and had an amazing time. I even managed to cut 2 kites,basically I still have some ragamuffin skills :). The main thing is to shout "O.. Kattaa" irrespective of whose's kite gets cut, this sparks a deep sense of camaraderie :) So the next instance your kite get tangled with someone else's kite and gets cut and what do you do ?? shout "O.. Kattaa" with total glee:)

Bhai teaching Prisha the fine art of kite flying








Father Daughter "O Kattaa" moment :)

Happiness....

"Happiness is something that comes into our lives through doors we don't even remember leaving open." :). My dears wishing that happiness flows in abundance thru your lives and you have a fantabolous n brilliant 2011. .

This is the year of the "Rabbit" (the Chinese zodiac and not Eminem ) essentially associated with traits as creativity, compassion and sensitivity. I am still talking about the zodiac and not Eminem, though at this point it would be difficult to demarcate :). Neways last few days of December went exploring Jaipur and life in glorious shades of pink n gray :). A recent trip to Albert Hall Museum (http://www.rajasthan-tourism.org/prime-attractions/albert-museum.html) ..tanga ride into the city ...visiting the City Palace ... wondering over the girth of Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh - I's pyjamas, which are over 2m in length and 1.2m in width, who himself was over 250 kg in weight.... Quite Amazing !!! not to mention racking our brains to figure out the working of the Samrat Yantra at the Jantar Mantar. :)

For me Albert Hall Museum has always been this beautiful artifact with loads of history and pigeons :) It was remarkable to see the essence of it captured beautifully in sepia. Walking in the drizzle ... garam garam chai at a local shop ... oh such joy in such simple silly things :-)

The year of the rifle ..

I subscribe to Tiny Buddha .. simple wisdom for complex lives ..(http://tinybuddha.com/) and it talked on Impossibilities... “Impossibilities are merely things which we have not yet learned.” -Charles W. Chestnutt
Neways ...This year has been fantabolous learning experience.... I have discovered what it feels to be reborn ...rise like a phoenix in all itx glory and vivid colors :).

This month however, my trips and wandering has been restricted to Jaipur .. to and fro NH8 to be precise, but mind you Jaipur is a beautiful place and to all those who plan to visit please give me an advance notice ... I will be your truly knowledgeable guide :). One absolutely fantastic thing is the light and sound show at Amer Fort, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Fort).. it has it all .. folklore .. the story telling in AB's deep voice ..the drama through lights and sound ... sitting area is open ... the crisp evening air.. under the star lit sky .. abs perfect:)

Moving on, given my lineage and penchant for balloon shooting at local fairs ... I decided to take it a step further and actually get a break barrel rifle ... and also enroll in a rifle shooting class. Amazing experience .. these days Gopal too looks forward to my idiosyncrasies :). We have to drive around quite a bit to get to the shooting range .. and while I practise, he tries at clay target shooting :).

Neways people adios, enjoy and have a fantab day .. I need to get back to work.. yes, I have to work too ..:)

Purpose...

I don't know my purpose, sometimes I think i am just drifting across life gathering experiences. Do they add up to the big picture aka my life's purpose? hmmm I dont know or cant say. How does one figure out his/her purpose?
Am I confused because of the lack of talent in one particular field or there are way too many options clouding my sight or do i lack the drive and am lazy?
Nobody would say that my life is not interesting or dull. New challenges show up everyday --but are they leading me newhere? what is my purpose? I have never taken time out to choose a path - been so involved /caught up in the life/ circumstances around me that I choose between the options available and moved on. I have achieved quite a lot, have put in a lot of hard work and dedication and to an great extent proud of the person I am today, but I dont see a purpose ... the big picture.
In this jigsaw puzzle of life, i seem to have all the pieces but do not have the small guiding picture that tells me what i am building.
Any suggestions?

Terms n Definition...

we all use words .. to give meaning to and express our feelings. I think over time we have forgotten the meaning of the words we so often throw around ...so as a gentle reminder ...

a) Care ..the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something.
so next time when you say "I care for you.",please remember it does involve some work to be done on your part.

b) Love.. is any of a number of emotions related to a sense of strong affection.;a strong positive emotion of regard and affection;any object of warm affection or devotion; beloved: a beloved person; used as terms of endearment; get pleasure from.

So again be very careful with the words "I love You". It requires you to have a strong attachment to that person. Heaven alone can help you if, you say " I love you and care for you" and still like to be passive and sit on your lazy butt.. or want the other person to apply herself/himself without ne return on your part. Tough luck .. but it is a two way street. :)

c) Happy.. enjoying or showing or marked by joy or pleasure; felicitous; glad: eagerly disposed to act or to be of service

d) Happiness.. is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources.

e) Commitment...the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action.

speaking the words aloud is very easy, but following your commitment is very difficult
you need to really think beyond self. Life was never simple and will never be. Would the life of a caveman be simple? simplistic yes, but not simple.

call me crazy but i think love, care and happiness can never be achieved, grown or sustained using the KISS funda.

f)craziness ...informal terms for insanity; folly: the quality of being rash and foolish; The state of being broken in mind; imbecility or weakness of intellect; derangement.

What constitutes a good life?

This was a very inspiring article by Jim Rohn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Rohn)
was passed on by a dear friend as a step towards my continuing education on life. :)

Fully agreeing with Mr. Rohn ... The ultimate expression of life is not a paycheck, a big fancy car, a big fat stack of currency or a magnanimous mansion ... (basically everything in my life :) ) we have to keep asking ourselves "what for me would be a good life?". A simple yet a powerful guiding tool ...so my dears ponder on "what for would you be a fantabolus life?" :)