Thank not all ?

I was walking with Y and I stopped at a small shop to get something. After paying I said "Thank You". Y asked me "Why do you say "Thank you" to this guy ? He's just an ordinary fellow."

I was surprised at Y's remark. I never thought that this guy doesn't deserve me thanking him.

I don't know if it is because I was brought up and living in Germany for most of my formative years, but there certainly it was only a common thing to do, to thank even for the smallest gesture. Here in India the picture is so different. You have the very rich, the rich, the average man , the poor and the very poor. People don't offer courtesies to people below a certain strata, especially not below themselves.

I for myself, I believe that every person deserves to be treated equally irrespective of whether they are at a higher or lower level than us. We ought to appreciate everyone around us, and definitely we'll get appreciated more as well. Sometimes that is all that people want. And so whenever I catch a glimpse of pride in their eyes when they reply back with "You're welcome!" I realize it was a good thing to do.

Journey of a One Rupee Coin

Roy was telling me one day the journey of a one rupee coin ...

Roy had gone for some small errand and on his payment he received a one rupee coin as balance. Usually he would drop the coin in a coin box once at home, but this time he forgot and it was still in his track pants pocket.

And he forgot about it ...

Soon after the next day , he rushed in the early morning to collect one of his shirts given for ironing because we had to attend a function.He didn't take his wallet since he was to collect the other shirts later.

On handing over Roy's shirt the man who had ironed his shirt asked him for a token amount since this was the first business transaction of the day. Roy told him that he had not taken his wallet with him, but when he felt in his pocket he found the one rupee coin he had put the previous night. And he handed it over happily ...


This is the journey of the coin.It was not destined to land in a box full of other coins, instead it was to become the first earnings of that man. Likewise, so many coins and notes travel through our hands daily, but we hardly notice them individually. Each has its own fate, just like we ...

Farewell Tears

Why is it that whenever we leave our loved ones that our hearts become heavy and sometimes even tears are shed ?

Sometimes it's only for a weekend but the very thought of leaving or being away from my loved ones has brought tears to my eyes ... And I become like a child again ...
And I have often wondered why it is like this ...

When I look around, I see most people having difficulty bidding adieu to their friends or family, in varying degrees, some getting serious though smiling, others cracking jokes though deep inside sad, again others getting moist eyes, and others crying loudly or silently ...

What is it that makes us behave like this ... ?

Maybe there is a slight fear that we will not see each other again ... That this was the last time and we haven't said "BYE" properly ...
Maybe we haven't said all that we wanted to tell them ...
Maybe we just love them so much that something inside us aches badly...
Maybe we miss their presence and their impact on our lives ...
Maybe we hate to see them being lonely without us ...

Whatever our reaction when we say "Bye" ... we pray deep inside that we will be given a chance and we can meet again soon ...

Worry only for today

There is something special in the Bible in Mathew 6:34 :

Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

It is strange that when you look deep inside or randomly (as I did) you can find true gems of advice in the Bible. Maybe it's not strange, just what it is supposed to be.

In these times when everyone is so busy with their lives and has only time to worry .. about bills to be paid, loans to be taken, emergencies to be taken care of and dreams to be fulfilled, this advice comes in really handy.

Amongst this chaos we often don't know what to do. Knowing or rather believing that everything will be fine, that we will get solutions to our problems when the time is right is such a relief.

And we can smile more , laugh more and love more ... and the world will be a better place .

Blessing in disguise

Sometimes when people make fun of you or call you names,
it comes as a blessing in disguise ..
It causes some of us to think and take action and improve on ourselves,
not because we lack so much but so as to excel even more ...

It becomes the fuel we were looking for all this time, the fuel that drives us to change ourselves or our present situation for the better.

If Mahatma Gandhi had not faced racial discrimination in South Africa, would he ever have thought of getting us independence ? Have we ever thought about this ??

I was, I am, I will be

When I was small I was interested in so many things ...
In Kindergarten always busy with stage shows where we used to enact something or dance to a song. In my primary school years it wasn't much different either. My teachers would always tell my parents that I am talented. But it stopped there. As I grew up, I started to become a shy person who would only smile but not say much. I have been trying hard to crack this shell open.
Sometimes it's easy, on other occasions I try to close it harder.

After I got my first job I started to open up again, found some gems of friends and I started to learn and pursue some new hobbies.
Photography has been one of them. Its seed was planted long time ago when my father gifted me my very first camera.
I bought my very own digi-cam and since then I've been shootin and shootin .... I'm not a pro but I just like to shoot at whatever comes to my sight .... and sometimes I get very nice snaps .... especially of my son ... who is my object of shooting nowadays.

I always liked drawing ... so I picked up glass painting as another hobby. Having had a friend who did glass paintings helped me a lot to start off. It gives me such immense happiness each time I finish a "masterpiece" of my own.

I don't know how I acquired the liking for writing .. maybe because I always loved reading since my childhood ... Another dear friend told me of the blog he was writing. And I liked this idea ...
So I started out with this blog that you are reading right now ...
I like this medium of writing.. this blog enables me to be myself ...
I can share my feelings and thoughts on any topic freely without having to worry about what other people might think about it. And it's nice to know that someone out there does take the time to read it.

In the future, I feel I should take up some activities that will allow me to interact more with others.
... Maybe enact some plays, sing, laugh and dance and have fun
... just like I used to when I was a kid.

You are perfect

How many people have told you that you are perfect?
In my case noone.
I am not perfect and I am well aware of it. But I also haven't come across anyone who is "perfect". I wonder if the great people like Buddha or Jesus have been perfect themselves.

Life would be such a nice experience if all people would tell you "Hey Dear, you are perfect to me!! or would atleast accept you the way you are... The truth is .. some do and some don't ....

Somewhere I read "Everything created by God is perfect, and so are you."
and then somewhere else "God is perfect. But we are not. God wants us to change."

I assume this is not really God's opinion, rather the opinions of two different people. Each statement is in stark contrast to the other, and yet anyone can choose their cup of tea...

Perfection to each and every individual has a different meaning, and that's what makes us so perfect .... or should I say imperfect ???