Category Archives: Carpe Diem!

Seize the day and celebrate an eternal festival called Life.

Carpe Diem!, The Journey!

Let’s break the monotony of cynicism!

I have been called a maniac many a times because sometimes when I speak, people would be like, ‘Kya bolna chahte ho bhai?’ I have had difficulties making people understand my view points quite often. Not that I could not communicate my thoughts but mostly because the person in front of me would easily mark me a maniac listening to what I had to say; quite literally. I thank  SBI Youth for India for giving me a platform where my voice was heard. Well, the setbacks haven’t stopped me from doing what I truly love. My love for people has always exceeded the melancholy of negativity which has surrounded the human race for so long now.

Well, it has been a while since I wrote on this blog, but I have been occupied a lot over the past month. Not only have I been enjoying; travelling to Bodh Gaya, a 3 day extended trip to Ahmadabad, a journey in a crowded passenger train, meeting a 94 year old man who has been running a school all alone without money, a 29 year old storyteller who changed my perspective towards life, a talk at Reserve Bank of India, and the stories my children create in a small village of Haripur Krishna, I have also been learning important life lessons.

Well, I am about to start something more wacky; something which will push me to the limits, even more. Not that SBI Youth for India has given the fellows less on the plate to push them to the boundaries; another addition will add on to the fun.

Over the past one month, I have been working on a storytelling project with the children. We have been telling our stories through different media; drawings, writings, abstract paintings, puppetry and so on. Now, we want to take it a notch above.

Before starting to work in this school at Haripur Krishna, I was told that most of the students haven’t even touched a computer in their lives. It is then I had decided to try and establish a mini computer lab in the school. The next thing which was in my mind is to teach students Life Skills through storytelling. The activities we do through storytelling not only sow the seeds of creativity in these young learners but also show them a world where imaginations are not discarded but celebrated.

In February, we had launched one magazine by the name of ‘Palak’. The origin of the name also has a very interesting story behind it. When Mr. Kumar Shaw (a storyteller who visited us) and I were discussing to give a name to our storytelling team for a group activity, we asked the children to suggest names for it. Some names that came up were ‘Ready’, ‘Khiladi’ and so on. Generally silent Khushi spoke this time and said, ‘Palak’. We liked the name then and there. I was really mesmerized by a class 5 student giving a beautiful name such as this. And, not only did she give the name; she touched her eyelids, gave a beautiful smile and said, ‘Palak’. It was a moment to remember for a lifetime.

Well, these are just a few of the stories that I have in my mind right now. There are more at the back of it. 🙂

We have recently launched a campaign to arrange for funds to create a little difference in the lives of these amazing children. I am glad to say that we have received your love and unconditional support till now. We have been able to arrange 20000 INR in a matter of 2 days with over 1000 views on the video shared on Facebook.

Please support us in this endeavour of ours to bring happiness in the lives of these children. In our madness of creating beautiful stories.

Go on the link to see our work and support us: Palak – ‘A Story’ in making for the children in rural Bihar

See the video of our work at:  Palak – Breaking the monotony of Cynicism

PS: I will make up for my absence by doing something more crazy. Watch this space for more! 🙂

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Carpe Diem!, The Journey!

Thank You Teacher!

During our childhood days, we always had that one teacher who was our favourite and the one who was not. We would wait with eagerness for the former to come to our class and find ways to bunk the class of the other. Remember those days?

As we grow a little bit older and start to judge ourselves as bold and cool, we would still wait for that one teacher whom we have grown fond of. However, as big as we think we are, we would sometimes try to belittle our other not so favourite teacher. We would make weird noises or thump our desks using our newly found strength or walk in and out of the class without permission. I, for one, was not a very notorious student but found it really fun when one of my classmates would put up such a remarkable show of ‘boldness’. Later, I was also involved in many such remarkable ‘acts’.

My first day at a school where I have decided to do my project in alternate education for the next 10 months went rather magnificently. I had fixed a time frame of about a week giving the students of class 5, 6 and 7 curiosity generation lessons in basic computer education as well as storytelling. It was for the first time I was about to take a class of over a hundred students. I was not nervous but excitedly restless. I did not realize but it was the first time when I was a teacher to these students in the same way my teachers were to me. We discussed about some basic concepts such as what a machine is, different types of machines, how computer is also a machine and so on. The class ended when I told them a real life story of APJ Abdul Kalam which gave him an important lesson; we are all the same in the eyes of God, be it a Hindu or Muslim.

I was upbeat with the way class went and was ready the next day to to take one more. It was on this day that I met someone from the past. I met my notorious friend; a blast from the past!

A class of 100 students is hard to manage and when you have a student who is focused on putting up a show of ‘boldness’, it is even harder. So, here I was, trying to teach them how to use the computer when I heard a weird noise, a loud thump on the desk and frequent in and out of the class. I saw in him my friends and myself. However, I was different now. I was a teacher and he was my student. Initially, I decided to ignore him but slowly and steadily, he was able to put up a show as ‘remarkable’ as we used to pull off. It was getting difficult for me to keep the class under control. It was for the first time I truly felt myself in the shoes of my former teachers. Till today, I did not know how tough it would have been for my teachers to deal with me and my friends.

Teaching is a tough job. I realized it in just 2 days of time. Imagine a single teacher teaching 160 students everyday for 6 hours. At face value, it looks easy. But, it is not. If you do not believe me, please take a chance and volunteer at any Govt. school nearby. 60 students, 1 hour everyday. That is it. You’ll know.

The least we can do for our teachers is to not belittle them and have a feeling of gratitude. I never knew the most notorious student will give me such a lesson. Well, he is now responsible for making sure that everyone is seated in their places. 😉

PS: Thank you Sanjal Jaiswal for the perfect edit. 😉

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Carpe Diem!, The Journey!

Love thou fear!

I still remember the day when my mother asked me to go to Noida from Meerut and I got frightened by the thought of taking the bus, alone. Today, within a year, I have travelled all alone to Bangalore, Pune, Madurai, Ahmadabad and will soon travel to Bihar.

(Noida is a place around 50 kms from Meerut)

Since my childhood days, I have been a lazy bum. I would try and limit my travel as much as possible and would also make sure that there is always someone with me whenever I’m traveling anywhere outside of my comfort zone. Before traveling to Bangalore, the farthest place that I had gone to was Vaishno Devi, that too, with a group of friends during first year of my college.

The last one year has changed this habit of mine completely. I am now more comfortable in traveling anywhere and ironically, I prefer to travel all alone. There is a reason for that. When you travel the length and breadth of the country all by yourself, there’s a high chance of finding who you are. Not only that, you become more responsible, confident and self reliant.

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Today when I called up my mother and told her that I am going to Bihar, she couldn’t resist and said, “One year before, going to Noida was such a difficulty for you, now you are going to Bihar.”

These words were just a part of a normal conversation. But, when I think about it in silence, it tells me how far I had come from the good old days. It tells me that in order to overcome your fear and to start loving what comes after that, you ought not to face your fears but to live them.

The life that we all live today is the result of some of the fears that we faced yesterday. Still, we are here. Living our lives. The fears that we all face today will result in our life tomorrow. So, why get afraid of them? Why not love them?

Pictures of the day: Journey so far.

IMG_20151015_114011581_HDR     IMG_20151017_113831346_HDR

IMG_20151017_113604550     IMG_20151017_120002790_HDR

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Carpe Diem!, The Journey!

Wipro Journey Ends Today!

About a year has passed when I first came in this big corporate giant, Wipro.  Today, I am calling it quits.

I still remember my first day in Wipro. We were told by our trainer that the company is built on the fundamental principle of honesty and integrity (which it actually is). I was fascinated by the concept itself. I remember standing up and telling a story on the same, A Story Money Can’t Buy , which eventually led the crowd of 300 fellow colleagues applaud. Moments!

As you can see, I started on a high. First time out of home, 4 months of training in Bangalore were mixed with high content of alcohol, party and girls, I was, well, on weed. But things has to change and they did.

Coming back to Pune, I suddenly found myself sitting in front of the desktop and code. I had to prove something while I was back in Bangalore. Now, the same inspiration seemed lacking and I could not get myself to wake up every day and do the same thing over and over again. I kept on asking myself what is the purpose of my life? What is that one thing I am doing with my life which others aren’t? How am I different? And most importantly am I happy? These questions have kept me awake at nights. I had to find a purpose of my life.  Now, I believe, at  least for the next year, I have found one.

When I told people about my decision to quit my job and join a fellowship SBI Youth for India, many thought that I have lost my mind. For most of you reading this, knowing that it involves lesser amount of money and no “secured future”, you might think the same. Right? I was told many aspects for not doing it: tough village conditions, mosquitoes and lesser dowry, to name a few. The funniest of them: social service is a thing for women. Really?

So, why did I chose to do something which everyone was telling me not to. Well, it was simple. I wanted to do it. Period. I shut myself behind closed-door for an hour and asked myself a very simple question: Will I regret doing this? The answer was NO. And that was it.

Today, my Wipro journey ends. But the real journey has just started.

Pictures of the day.

IMG-20150924-WA0017 IMG-20150924-WA0012

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Carpe Diem!

My Life’s Greatest Lessons – The Solitude’s Paradise!

As I sit today, writing about the journey of my life over the past year, I feel a sense of completeness building inside me. I feel that I have been away from my inner self for quite some time now and so, now, I am trying to reconnect with all over again.

If I look back to my life till now, I have had my share of failures and success. I have had both. I have had moments of extreme happiness and moments of absolute gloom. But, that’s pretty much part of everyone’s life. Right? So, here’s a thought. When every human being faces the same set of challenges, served in different ways obviously, why is that some of us come out of it emerging as leaders, innovators, people who change the world, while the rest of us end up being someone less than what they can be. Who is stopping them from becoming what they can actually be? And, what is that one thing that sets the two kinds of people apart from each other?

Over the course of next few writings, I will tell you about some of my own life experiences that have shaped me who I am today. And, who I wanna be over the next few years.So, let’s get started.

A man who learns from others’ experiences is indeed wise. 

Since the time I came back to Pune, I have had my share of moments when I felt absolutely disappointed with my life. True that I have a wonderful job, a good place to be in, a perfect family and all the other ingredients of a perfect life. But, I felt that something was missing in my life. In my life before coming to Pune, I had given in to the issues which were not only petty but also unproductive. I had started to consume alcohol more than once in a while and have started to date a few people. But, in the process, I had started to disintegrate myself from the person who I really was. A person who I cultivated over the years with so much hard work and will power. But, as they say, no  thing happens in your life without a reason. All you need is to have the right perspective and the will to see that reason.

There are nothing such as bad experiences, lessons is what they are.

Now, coming back to Pune, I realised that I have less number of friends in this city. Being a guy as social as I am, it was never difficult for me to make new friends. But, somehow, I was finding it difficult to do one thing that I was actually good at. The initial days were so tough that sometimes I could barely wake up from my bed. I felt that my life has lost its purpose. That, it has lost all of its meaning. I wanted to make some changes in my life and, as they say, the one who wants to see will see even through darkness. 

One day while surfing on one of the website, I saw this book titled “THE MONK WHO SOLD HIS FERRARI” and I remember one of my dear friend telling me the profound impact it had on his life. I immediately ordered the book and I started reading it. I couldn’t believe the profound impact it had on me right from the first word. At the end of the book, I realized one very important thing that has been missing from my life and that is, the power of silence. I remembered the time when I could just sit in my room with absolute silence for hours contemplating on all the good things that I have in my life. Now, all of that seems missing in my life. So, I decided to act.

Over the next few weeks, I would wake up early, and go into the room, which I call, “The Solitude’s Paradise“, leaving the whole world outside and I would just sit there. The first few days were difficult. I could see my mind wander to the things that I had done in the past, the things that I’d do in the future and all other unproductive thoughts. Then, slowly but steadily, I started to hear silence. I started to see what the world actually wanted me to see. I started to feel all the wrong that was there in my life and slowly I started to remove all the dust that was hampering my growth. Today, it’s been three weeks since I started that practice of Solitude’s Paradise and it has done wonders to my life. I feel calm, peaceful, loving and more focused. And, I have started to do things that I love doing most, writing being one of those, maybe the best of those.

In the end, I would just like to tell all of you who are reading this that if you feel you are stuck somewhere in your life, that you feel you’re frustrated with your life or that you are confused between things, stop whatever you are doing right now, go and find your “Solitude’s Paradise“. Keep your mobile phones away from you, don’t keep the track of time you are spending in there, make yourself invisible from the world for sometime. There, my friend, you will find all your life’s answers. For, every answer that you search for is right there. Inside you. Inside your “Solitude’s Paradise“.

Special thanks to my friend Vishal, for indirectly being a part of this experience.

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