24 June - Delhi

Another update post! I am more devout writing my blog than I used to be earlier. These days I feel like an aficionado having full confidence in myself. I have unearthed a new habit of challenging myself. I am enjoying this pristine habit. These days I feel I can achieve anything. I feel younger and younger as I am passing the yardsticks of life. The life is all about perspective. And I believe I have set my perspective right.

I am delighted with everything that has happened to me and thankful to God to giving me such a great life. I am not made for thinking negative. I am full of positive energy. You must be wondering why I am writing all these traits about myself. I am not intentionally writing this. Words are automatically being typed from the keyboard. The thought process is being converted to words. I don’t have any complains.

From today I am determined to do daily learning. I have taken cue from what I used to do during my childhood. If I had any doubts on which subject to study and could not decide, I used to make chits of different subjects. The chit handpicked by me without seeing was to be the subject for me for the next couple of hours. This way I used to kill the confusion. I have written about 10 tasks which I want to do daily. I am committed to do those tasks daily in a span of 24 hours. This will be real fun.

What else! I am writing this blog as I picked up that folded paper out of the bunch on which BLOG was written.

Recent changes in my life:
1. Started pursuing guitar as a hobby
2. Improve your vocabulary is the new mantra in my mind
3. Bought a house in Crossings Republik
4. Booked a date for GMAT
5. Started another blog specifically to track the preparation and keep encouraging myself
6. I will start writing the diary again from today
7. Twitter – Keep updating

Another post of my genre...

Why am I writing a post after a gap. I had put a task in my to do list. So I am here. Updates: I have joined a guitar class. Oh not again!!!!Yes mate, I joined this time not to leave it again. On my first stint with guitar, you have to meet me over a cup of coffee. The guitar class where I go these days is pretty ok and the guitar teacher is very professional and an expert in playing. Compared to my classes in the last institute, here I am not part of any group. Instead a dedicated teacher teaches me the nuances of guitar.

Another news to break is that finally I booked a house. Yes, few days from now, when the loan amount is disbursed, I will be the proud owner of a house which is yet to be constructed. You have heard that right, the house is still under construction or rather the construction is just started. Actually I will be paying for a co-ordinate in space some 60 ft high. But I have to wait till the loan is approved. I was almost becoming a house owner last year but just because of a loan agent who could not expedite the process of sanctioning loan, my future house completely became a future dream. Am I becoming too sentimental, philosophical about the house. May be.....

These days I am trying to learn new things....you must have got the idea by reading the first paragraph of this post. Apart from guitar, I also started going to TM club. TM - Toast Masters Club....You dont have to raise a toast there, you have to speak and listen and feed your valuable comments. I am pretty impressed by the way they conduct the meeting. I would love to be part of this club.

Somehow or the other I feel that I can do everything....hahhahahhahhahahhahah. No thats true. Why to be a sterotype and put the block just by your thoughts. Do what you like doing. Dont worry about others.

My list:

1. Vacation in Darjeeling, Ladakh. Being in natures lap and feeling the serene tranquility.
2. Get in the habit of reading. I am going to buy some recommended books and read them. One of my wishlist is to have a library.
3. Master the guitar.
4. Join a theater group.
5. Volunteer in an NGO.


You know the fun is to challenge yourself. I am getting into this habit of challenging myself and doing the task.

I will pour in more thoughts sometime later.

Law of attraction

I listen to the Secret video more frequently now. I have started believing on the concept of "Law of attraction" . It is so true. You have to believe in this concept. It gives result.

Ask the universe and you will get the answer from universe. But you should be ready to receive. Your life is totally controlled by your thoughts. If you think you can, you can and if you think you cant you cant.

Thoughts manifest to things. It is such a lovely concept. I have implemented the law of attraction and I got the result. If God has given you this power, why not use it in a positive way. Why to block your mind. Think what you want and how you want your life, you will get the ideas. Universe will answer to your thoughts. You don't have to think about how. You just have to think of what you want and believe in that. If you truly believe and visualize yourself in getting what you want, universe will do the rest. The universe will answer.

This is a very good concept to practice. I am trying to be more organized these days. I occasionally go to zenhabits and look into different habits which can be developed. Once upon a time, around a month back, I used to wake up early at 5 daily. I will restart that habit. It feels so good when I come out of bed early. It feels refreshing and the whole day it feels nice.

There are many things in to-do list. I want to do so many things. I want to enjoy my life. It is fun if you enjoy the process and do not wait for something to happen. One should not be completely result oriented. If you enjoy the process and enjoy the path in getting the result, you will enjoy your life. Today I started doing deep breathing for few minutes. Deep breathing really calms you and improves your concentration.

Life is great and there is no reason to worry. I have enquired about the guitar classes in Dwarka and I am planning to change my music teacher. Another achievement this week is that I started updating my resume. I felt relieved once I updated the projects I worked upon for the last 2 years. This was long pending on me.

I am also planning to start putting something on my vision board. This will keep my dreams alive. You know life is all about dreaming and you have to dream and enjoy your life. We are on this earth to be happy and make others happy.

Recuperation

I got myself operated last week. The operation was on 22nd January. The operation was for a cyst under my neck. In medical terms it was submandibular excision. When I visited Max hospital on 14th Jan, the ENT specialist advised me to go for surgery. I was a bit apprehensive to go for operation, but he convinced me that there wont be any problem. He asked to get the blood test done.
Let me explain the prologue of this story. Before meeting the ENT specialist Mr Atul Mittal, I had seen couple of doctors but that didn't help much. I was on antibiotic and then advised for FNAC (I dont know what that stands for) but a needle was pierced in the affected area. For the first time they failed to get any tissue, then I was cordially invited to that diagnostic centre again to pierce another needle in the same area. The irony is that this was my new year gift. The first attempt was made by lady doctor and the second and final attempt was made by his husband. Then the pain started. The swelling was getting bigger. I had pain too. It was almost like a distorted ping pong ball. Then to make the situation worse, I started to have fever daily during evening. All these suffering lead me to see a good doctor.
When I visited the doctor again in Saket, he saw the blood test report and asked me to get it operated as soon as possible. I didn't have any choice other than choosing a date for the D-day. The doctor asked how is 21st Jan....Then came the negation, no...that is our wedding anniversary. Thanks to my wife Neetu, she wanted me to be well and not in recuperation at least in our 4th wedding anniversary. I agreed to that idea. Finally the D day was decided to be 22nd Jan. Then the usual formalities.
The hospitality business or shall I say hospital business has gone a long way in India. Now they present the options available to the patients in a way as if they are selling a product to a customer. I was told about rent of the one bed room where I will be kept pre and post operation and other charges for the surgery. When the Doctor came to know that I have a corporate medi assist card, a smile came to our face (his and mine) because none of us had to worry for the bucks. He was happy as he can charge the exaggerated amount and I was happy as I dont have to pay from my pocket. After doing those formalities, I was taken to anasthesia dept for getting myself checked if I can go for anasthesia on the D-day. The anasthesist gave green signal. I was told not to eat anything after dinner on 21st and nothing on 22nd morning.
After celebrating our wedding anniversary, we went to the hospital in the morning. We started early at around 6:30 in the morning. The situation was similar to the bride been taken to grooms house after marriage.......but it was the other way...groom been taken to hospital after the marriage anniversary.....dont know if this makes any sense.......I was admitted after depositing some nominal fees(to be adjusted in the final expense). I was taken to room 2409. I was given the green coloured gown to be worn for the surgery. The surgery time was 10:00 am, thats what was communicated to us by nurse. At 9:30, I was moved on bed and that feeling of being cut and operated crawled my mind. I looked at the faces of my family members....Neetu wishing me luck. I was kept in the pre operation ward for almost 2 hours. Then at around 11:30, I was taken to the operation theatre. There I met the anasthesist who examined me earlier. Another lady was with her. At that last moment she was explaining me the repurcussion of this operation. She didnt bother to frighten me by mentioning that during operation a vein near lips can be disturbed. That may keep half of my lips closed. She gave proper demonstration of this and asked me to do the same. Then she sarcastically laughed and mentioned that why am I keeping my lips half opened. I dont remember anything after that.
I was regaining consiousness at around 4 pm. I was getting that nauseating feeling. It felt as if I will vomit. After some time I was taken to my room 2409. There I saw everyone in my family waiting impatiently and worried. Thankfully everything went fine. Since then I am recuperating. Initially it was very painful to swallow anything. I was on painkiller for couple of days. Now the situation is much better. I can eat everything and there is very less pain while swallowing. This Saturday I will go to the Doctor to get the stitches removed.
This was the third operation of my life.

Revival

Yes!
Finally the blog is being revived. A lot many changes rolled in my life since my last post. Let me try to recollect all those changes since my last post in chronological order:

1.


Left US for good: I resigned from my first company Infosys. My last day was 31st July 2007. I was in no mood to resign. But the situation and my urge to come back to India forced me to resign. I tried for almost 6-7 months convincing my manager to send me back offshore but all in vain. I saw no results coming out of all the discussion. All of a sudden one day it all happened as if that was destined to happen. Neetu was looking into a website (makemytrip) to check for the airfare to India from US. It was pretty cheaper around 1300$ for two people one way. Mere thought of going back to India gave goosebumps and that feeling of happiness swiped our body. I cannot explain that feeling in words. We decided to book a ticket for a date 3 months later so that atleast we can have a date to land in India. And the date was decided to be 1st August 2007. Many more thoughts to share around this feeling. I am becoming more nostalgic.

2. Got a job in RBS: After getting the tickets to India, the next thought was what will I be doing in India to meet both ends. I started applying for job. I had posted my resume in monster and I used to get some mails regarding jobs. Once I got a mail for the job in RBS on mainframe requirement. RBS was a known company as I had worked earlier for the company from Infosys. I replied to the mail showing my interest in joining RBS. After exchanging few mails with the lady (Anudeepti Saxena from Naukri.com) interviews were scheduled with RBS. I cleared all the interviews and I got the offer from RBS after the telephonic rounds. All set.
The wait started to come back to India.

3.

Arrival of angel in my life: The most exciting time in my life. The greatest thing which could happen to me was my son Shaurya. As I am writing this post, I am able to hear some weird sound made by him aa aa aaa............
He came in our family on 24th October , that is the birthday of my elder brother too. He is so cute and naughty ....I am loving every moment with him.
Now it has been more than an year since he came into our family. He has started walking on his own atleast few steps. As I am trying to write something, Shaurya is looking onto the screen and trying to hit the keyboard and dancing on the ghajini song........
He has become the all time favorite of all the members in our family. ....Again many things to write about him which could fill many pages of the blog...

4.

Bought a car: After one month of Shaurya's arrival we decided to buy a car. Sorry just after 9 days ( correction from Neetu.......my wife....I very easily forget things). I still remember during my childhood days all these things seem to be distant dreams. I used to think that cars, telephone etc all are for rich and probably some day when I will be a big name, I will buy these things.
The car is Zen Estilo. After doing some research we thought of going for Zen Estilo.

5.

My birthday: Nothing much to write about this event as this is an annual event. The only difference is that for the first time I celebrated my birthday with Shaurya.

6. Arrival of 2008: Another year arrived with new things. And as I am writing this, the whole year has passed as if an year squeezed to a day. I was reading about the illusion and it was written that time is illusion. Time is not real. It is relative. Happy times go fast and sad times go slow..............Need to ponder on this. There is another concept stating nothing is future, past...........everything is happening at the same time. ....It is just the frequency on which your body is set, the frame is changed to a different body.

7.



3rd Marriage Anniversary: How can I forget the day when I tied knot with once my chat friend Navneet (dont get confused by name.........punjabi names are like this).The day was 21st January and it came again in 2008 with its usual flavour. This time it was special because we were celebrating the anniversary for the first time with family. Our first anniversary was celebrated from 2 continents.........as I was in US and neetu in India........Still remember those courtship days when I was so excited and used to wait for hours to get a glimpse of Neetu....again a long story....probably I can write a book on that.

8.


Neetu's Birthday: As like all other events, this event was to come and we celebrated Neetu's birthday. I am not able to remember anything other than the fact that she had cut the cake.......sorry Neetu....I am not able to find any photos of this year so I am posting one of her bday photos (in US)

9.



Parents wedding anniversary: The last time when I organized a small cake cutting ceremony for my parents wedding ceremony was in Mysore. Those were Infy days. Anita, Vijay, Pulok, Prashant Bendale and Khamu were present. We ordered for cake......Still remember those days................
And this year again after a gap .....we celebrated papa mummy's anniversary.

10.


Happy Birthday Shaurya: The huge blockbuster event came.........Shaurya's birthday. It was a grand celebration. We booked a park (Grand Seasons). Everything in the party was perfect. It was a gathering of around 100 people. Time flies..........it really flies......I still remember the day when I had to go to Tilak Nagar Testing center to get a report for Shaurya. It was around midnight and Shaurya's first night........And now he is more than an year old.

11. Another Year 2009: After all these destined moments, 2009 finally arrived. I have taken few resolutions ....early rising. I am waking up at 5 am since 1st January. Watching less TV. Controlling my eating habits...........And from today I will be regularly blogging.
Few things which I want to do this year.
- Smile and be happy
- Meditation and learning zen habits which I have already started
- Learning guitar....found a center in Dwarka where I can learn
- MBA......Do GMAT and go to ISB.


Thats it.
Bbye. sayo nara.........

Taste the Soup

Came across a very nice article on how to live in the present moment..............here it goes..........

When we were babies no one had to teach us how to live in the moment. There were toes to discover and sunbeams to play with. Only the present moment existed.
Then we grew up and many of us forgot how to stay fully present. We started remembering the past and rehearsing the future. Then if we were lucky, someone or some thing reminded us that life can only be lived in the here and now.
For some of us, it was something we read in a book or heard in a workshop or a church. For me, the "aha" moment happened while I was having lunch with my good friend, Walt Busby.
It was the seventies and I was Director of the Blood Supply at the new blood bank which I had helped organize in Gainesville, Florida. It was having growing pains and I was complaining to Walter about the boss, the stress, and being on call for emergencies. Then I launched into what was happening with my new boyfriend, my mother, my children.
We had both ordered cucumber soup, a first for me, and I barely noticed that Walter wasn't eating his. I was too busy going on and on about me, me, me. I was devouring the soup and talking non-stop between gulps.
I started to share my upcoming vacation plans when Walter gently interrupted me to say,
"I get so lonely when I take you to lunch."
I was stunned.
"What do you mean," I said, "I'm right here."
"No you're not. You're at the blood bank. You're with your boyfriend, your mother, and your kids. You're on your vacation. You're everywhere but here with me sharing this moment."
I felt like crying for some reason. I didn't know why. I told Walter I didn't know what that meant, "to be in the moment."
I was always remembering and reporting things that happened already or wondering about, rehearsing, and planning for the future. Nothing much seemed to happen in the moment. I will never forget his answer that changed my life.
"How's your soup?"
"My soup?"
Why was he asking me about my soup in the middle of our conversation? I thought for a second, and then answered truthfully, "I don't know."
"Taste it," he said.
I did, and almost gagged. It tasted awful!
"Yuk, that's the worst-tasting soup I've ever had. I can't eat that."
"I know," he smiled. "It's terrible. That's why I didn't eat mine. I watched you mindlessly eating a whole bowl of soup while you were so busy being somewhere else. I couldn't believe you actually liked the soup. You weren't paying any attention to it. That's what being here now is about. Taste the soup.”

by Patti Normandy Greenwood...

So true. .......During childhood, no one teaches on how to live in present. But as we grow we keep on forgetting this in the rat race to succeed..................

After a long time.........

Hi,
Thought of writing in the blog again. It has been long since I posted anything in the blog. I started this blog in March 2005 and today is Sep 19 2006. One and half years since I created first wrote in this blog.
So much to write. Lot many things happened. Life is full of incidents.
It is so good to have your own blog. This is like a diary where I can write my heart and brain.
Cool......................I am listening to soothing songs of Jagjit Singh sitting here at my home in Winston Salem. Home................doesn't sound like home...............Home reminds me of my family.....parents, brothers..............all together. Yes I can call it a house made of brick and wall.............brick.........I think wood...........
Writing in this dashboard is almost like writing a mail. This is real good.
OK. Let me try to write whatever the updates are in. In the earlier blog post, I think I had written some details. It has been almost 10 months since I came to US. Time has gone real fast. Time flies.............yes really.........So many things happened............

The life has become routine. Waking up at 8:08 AM. Finishing the daily chores and getting ready for the office. Reaching the office at 9:00 or sometimes at 9:15.......doing something on the black screen (yes the screen on which I work is black.............mainframe screen)......At around 6 returning to home......................at home having a cup of tea...........watching Kyunki Saas..........(with my wife.............u bet I didn't use to watch this earlier..............), Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai and Kahin to hoga........
Then orkut........

I will update more on daily happenings and any interesting event.....................

Updates

Hi,

For long I havent posted anything in my blog. Let me try to put something in my blog.
My last post was on 28th October. At that time I was in London and I was about to come to India.

Now things have changed a lot. I went to India. I stayed there for around 20 days and now I am in US. It's now more than 2 months since I am here. But here in US it is too boring.
I havent been to any place other than my office, house and few grocery shops. It is really boring.
I miss my India. The only friend I have is my laptop through which I chat, see some movies etc.

I have seen almost all the episodes of Great Indian Laughter Show. The show is too good. I like the acting of Raju Shrivastava, Navin Pal.

What else shall I write. Confused. I am a bit philosophical guy. I have found so many different kind of people in this world. Really sometimes it makes me think, all men and women are different and completely unique.

Last week I saw Rang De Basanti. The movie is too good. The movie is inspirational. We should do something for our country and change the system.
One more thing happened last sunday. I had a dying pain in my stomach. It was too much. I was unable to tolerate. Finally I told my roommate that I need to go to Hospital. We went to hospital. I was diagnosed with appendicitis and was operated and my appendix was removed.

One final update. My wife is coming to US in the last week of this month.

Aur nahi pata chal raha hai kya likhoon.
If I will be having any idea, I will surely write here.