Spring springs!!!

Did you fail to make a New Year resolution? Here, comes another opportunity. It is the 'Spring break’. Though, it is not fixed as calendar one but it is a sense of new beginning. It signifies new birth. It rejuvenates and animates all form of life. It frees us from shackles (those enjoyed winter ignore).

Plants and trees get their new leaves fresh and green; they blossom with beautiful flowers. The city adorns itself with green. And, flowers of color violet, blue, yellow, orange, red and white add to its texture. The fragrance of flowers adds more value to the warm air. Change is not just in nature, but also in people. Especially, women in their colourful, short, light, fitting apparels is a lovely sight to watch. Sudden flocking in streets makes me wonder, "Where were they hibernating long?" Additionally, saving day light helps us all linger more out.

In Tropical regions, these changes are not so visible since change in temperature would be 5 - 10 degrees. We realize the sanctuary of shadow only under scorching sun. Let it not happen this spring. Like life, season is also not everlasting and ought to change. Nevertheless, that makes it more worthwhile spending.

Broken Record

Have you ever received a phone call or mail saying, "You have won money or Gift?" If so, how did you feel? Happy, that you were really lucky. Or, suspicion, that you were so gullible. A similar thing happened to me two weeks back. I am a kind of person who spends half the time researching how I earned and the remaining half in planning to spend. So, it was no wonder I felt both.

The gift was worth 3000$. But there is no free money. Money is given at the cost of getting more money. All I need to get the gift was to attend a presentation for 90 minutes. Never, I move by 'Easy money'. But still there was a bit of hesitation to reject the offer. I decide to take the offer based on one significant vouch. The Rep who called me to inform about the offer spelled by my last name perfectly. It has '18' characters. In US, irrespective of person I meet, the icebreaker is my last name. It is so difficult for people to pronounce and systems to accept. Even it is not perfect in my SSN,bank account,cerdit card etc. So, I decided that it is not completely bogus and wanted to study the management strategy behind it.

I was not aware that presentation was about a sale till I reached there. Believe me, they believe in what they do. I didn’t go just to collect the gifts. I did listen to it. The person who took the presentation did an awesome job. And, the concept presented was also good. It was definitely a money saver in long term. The idea was based on the simple fact of rewarding customer for loyalty with vendor. Now days, this is a key marketing strategy. It had real value, but not for everyone. And, not definitely for me.

After the presentation, two Reps tried convincing me to invest in vain. I used the technique called 'Broken Record'. As you may know the record gets stuck where it was broken and plays the same verse again and again. Every time they explained the features about the investment I replied following "The proposal was really a money saver but, my reasons..." "I would love to take the offer however, my reasons..." "It is a fantastic idea still, my reasons..." The Rep was completely disappointed and let me go. Finally, I left the place with just my freebie.

Peer pressure

A seven year old kid who is going for chess class on Monday, swimming on Tuesday, dance on Wednesday, piano on Thursday, math on Friday, instructs her mother, "Please move my math on Monday right after chess, so I can get Friday free for tennis". The reason nothing but her friends are going more number of classes than her. As you know, more number of engineers are passing out every year in India, the big 'B' is planning his son's marriage in a way that had happened never before, Iran trying to acquire nuclear capability and, at the same time, US trying to prevent it. Whatever, the magnitude of these actions? Or, whoever is doing it? It can collectively be called as "Peer Pressure".

In many occasions, I also had succumbed to it. And, many of my decisions were made without much pondering. I would not argue that it had directed me to an irrecoverable path. But, definitely it had placed my journey on different routes. Though I made a good living out of my choices, sometime the little voice inside asks "Is that what you wanted?". I have nothing much to answer than "Shut up!". But the rumbling never stops.

A toad on the water should use gills and one on the land should use nostrils. It would be a catastrophe other way around. Slowly, I realized the importance of decision making. Every time, when I have the urge to do something, I learned to ask myself three questions "Is that what I want? Why do I want? How far I go to get it?" May be, I won't be able to keep up with the pace of the world. May be, I fail to seize the right moment. But, definitely my little voice would be dumb once and for all.

Dormant Volcano

Most of us want to go gym. But, only a few can make it. And, in that very few go regularly. As we know, before we work out our body, we need to work out our mind, which is very difficult. I also had had many futile attempts to go to Gym. But, the current streak is by far the best. I would attribute it to one small change in the execution. Normally, I pursue gym in the evening. But this time I tried morning.

In my experience, morning gym is better than evening. My past evening attempts didn't work out due to- body had worn-out by the time I start and mind supported the fact. Finally, the synergy effect of body and mind pulled me down. On the contrary, morning is better for two reasons -body is fresh, a quick warm up can help me get on my feet and mind is like an unarmed enemy, the right moment to conquer it.

Again, going in the morning is not as easy as it sounds. There were two things, which I couldn't compromise in life for a long time -morning sleep and bed coffee (without brushing teeth - for some ignorant souls). However, I had to give up the later when I left the fairy place called "home". My mind didn't put much battle against me, since it knew there was no alternative.

Nevertheless, it was not an easy task with morning sleep. I had to rage a furious battle against my mind for years. Though I seem to win the battle for now. Still, it is like a dormant volcano trying to erupt anytime. The only way to succeed is to accept there exist the volcano and making it dormant forever.

Note: Scientific studies argue that an action performed for 21 days regularly, becomes part of our habit. The reason I am writing this story is because I went past that mark yesterday.

fly

I fly.I fly
To see, how high I can fly.
I fly.

Mind of a Child

I want mind of a child for the following reasons...
It is so volatile when think of hatred.
It is so reflective when think of knowledge.
It is so innovative when think of action.

I always inspire from child's unquenchable thirst to achieve more
- They try to crawl, when barely started using their knees
- They try to walk, when barely started crawling
- They try to run, when barely started walking

When we are child, we are so determinative to achieve what we want.But, it is not so now.
The reason I think...
we GROW.

Make the blue...Green

'Earth' a part of the infinite universe believed to be formed from just dust. In course of time, it has become man's primary and only inhabitance. Everyday we better living with our intuitive knowledge from nature itself. In return, we give nothing but- greenhouse gas, deforestation, pollution to our mother nature. It is not far off that we are going to reap what we sow. In spite of outcries for a greener land, we have not made enough progress. In my opinion, we need changes both in law and in people.
Laws should be made more stringent. Since, it can bring in changes at the macro level, at quicker rate. Many people at least 80% abide by law just because they are liable to do so or, for the penalty. In either case, it can bring in immediate changes. But, law makers are hesitant to bring more rules and restrictions for their own shorter political gains. I would not deny the fact that there are changes going on making earth greener and a better place. For example, united states the largest consumer of wood. They came back strongly for the larger deforestation issue due to their lumber industries. They passed bill for Lumber Industries to cultivate the forest when they are done with wood in a particular site before shutdown. Industries will not take safer disposal unless it is a mandate or cheaper way. So, only law can make the required changes here.
Change in people mentality is also required to bring in changes at micro level. We should be taught and be made aware that a butterfly's flapping wings can send a ripple of causation through out the world so does our individual action. Unconsciously, we pull back when we touch fire. Likewise, we must reflex to refrain from activities which can cause harm to our environment. These things should start from a grass root level. Now a days, even people are interested and are moving towards building environment friendly home with bio-degradable paints, woods, insulation etc. This is a welcome sign but the figures are not satisfying. As the fat percentage marked on the edible substances, there should be some kind environment friendly level mentioned in all consumer items. People should choose greener products.
We have grown to a level of exploring possibility of life in other planets far, far away. Till now, to our knowledge, nothing more than this blue planet could be conducive. This has been our abode for millions and millions of years now. It is an inconvenient truth that we are sensing the changes because of our hostile actions. We cannot let the earth go back to just dust. We ought to make the world greener and we can.