Captivity, Disappointments and Positivity

Captivity is considered one of the biggest disappointments in a persons life. He who has to give up his freedom and live in confinement would perhaps regard it as the biggest disappointment in life. However it is depends on how you handle your disappointment. You can either stand up and fight or give up and surrender. There are some famous people who never gave up even in the worst of their times and perhaps so we know them today. 

George Mathew Fernandes, the former defence minister of our country who was very famous for his visits to the army bases in Siachen Glacier and who worked for  the betterment of the living conditions of the soldiers. He represented the Taxi Driver's Union in Mumbai and got jailed several times. He was fearless. He wanted justice for the poor. When he headed the Railways Union, on the demands of the union being unfulfilled he bought the railways at halt for several days and the entire workforce joined him. During emergency, he was arrested several times. He was considered as the most wanted man on the run and he escaped arrest by disguising himself as a fisherman and turbaned sikh for a year. In June 1976, he was arrested in Kolkata for the Baroda Dynamite Conspiracy case, produced at Delhi Court and kept in Tihar Jail. He contested 1977 Parliamentary elections from the jail and won with massive majority. He was appointed the industry minister when he was out of the jail. Later he served as the Defence Minister of the country. He had faith on himself and he kept working for what he believed would bring justice to the poor. 

Nelson Mandela, the leader who put an end South African Apartheid served 27 years in prison. In the first 18 years he was placed at Robben Island Prison, Cape Town where he fought with the jail officials and demanded equal treatment of the black prisoners with the white prisoners. He was made to work at a limestone quarry along with other prisoners and was allowed to sleep in the floor of a seven feet square room. For 13 years, he slept naked on floors. He was allowed only one visitor in every six months. Even then he protested against prison labor and jail authorities had to put an end to it in finally. His  mother and elder son died while he was in jail and he was denied permission to attend. His life turned bit better when he was moved to Pollsmor Prison where he was allowed to meet his family members. His life became further better when he was shifted to Victor Verster Prison. After 10,052 days in prison he was released. He was chosen as the President of South Africa and was also conferred the Nobel Prize for peace. He knew his cause was justified and was for the rights of the people.

It totally depends on how we deal with our disappointments. We can either live with it and blame our fate or choose to write our own fate. Nobody but we ourself are the flagbearer of the journey of our life.

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Who you should be?

Should you always be what you pretend to be?

We have always pretend to be someone or atleast tried to be similar to a particular genre as per the society. What I mean to say is that we have all accustomed to a particular profession and also have aligned our life style with it. Even if we are actually not the person whom we are pretending to be, we have so much accustomed ourselves to a particular genre of the society that we have actually forgotten what we actually are.

Let me  elaborate.

We all live in a society with most of us dragging ourselves in the 9 to 5 rat race. We have a perfect yearly schedule. On most days we wake up to reach our workplace tired with hopeful dreams and we end our day without any productive work for ourselves. On festivals, we come out wearing traditionals, click selfies with fake smiles and that's how our years are ending. Haven't we ever thought of giving up pretending to be someone and really be ourselves?

We, who are dragging ourselves to work every morning have forgotten that their lives a different person in us with a different hidden dream. If we all go back to our childhood, do we remember saying that our dream was to work 9 to 5? I am sure nobody would have said that. We wanted to be a musician, a traveller or a writer. Perhaps a few of us also wanted to be fire fighters, join the army or play soccer. We have already given up on our dreams or are shattering it everyday and by that it shall be destroyed itself. Is it right? We are working hard to fulfill somebody else's dream. We are all afraid to put our job security at minimal risk just to pursue what we always wanted to do. We are dragging ourselves to work 40 hours a week denying our dreams which would need perhaps 80 hours a week at the beginning. The double effort will yield exponential happiness. 

It would cost a little to be yourself but the effort is worth it.

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Munmun's Mom's Way of Parenting

I am sharing a small story from 5th or 6th standard.

There used to  be a young kangaroo named Munmun. Munmun was very attached  to his mother. As days passed by, he chose not to grow up and be a joey forever and stay in his mother's pouch. His mother insisted him to start learning to  leap but he defied everytime. He was fond of his mother's care and that defied him from growing old. One day his mother decided  to teach him a lesson. While Munmun was asleep, his mother left him beneath a tree and was watching him from a distance. As he woke up, he was shocked to be alone. He looked for his mom everywhere but he couldn't find her. He felt thirsty and searched for water. He remembered the way to river where his mom used to carry him in her pouch and he started leaping towards the river. His mom followed him. While he reached the river and was about to drink water, he saw his mother.

Munmun's Mom teaches a lot about how parenting should be done. Every mammal is scientifically concerned about the child. The concern sometimes goes so far that parents even forget to let  their kid grow up. Kid's today are so spoon fed that they have forgotten how to do household chores even. Freedom and responsibilities will both make a kid grow up. Yes, however that needs a strict eye like Munmun's Mom. However the kid shouldn't realize that he is being watched up. This also will let you know how your child behaves in your absence. If he behaves matured, then it is you who is not letting him grow up. If  he is homesick, then you must let him realize the world outside your home. If he does something wrong, then probably he needs some more nurturing or even strict eye.

I grew up in a similar environment and I am thankful to my parents for that. I was never spoon fed. I had to figure out solutions by myself to some of my problems. If that was beyond my scope, then only my parents would interrupt. I was not scolded for studies everyday but was also questioned for my marks which compelled me to make my own study plan. I was not restricted of television. The luxury of parents escorting to the school bus-stop always remained a dream. If ever there was any community event or a Bihu function in the neighbourhood I always returned late night. However, the day my Dad found out I was learning to ride a bike without proper license he warned me about all the consequences and also ensured that I got my license to ride. Even after I started working and earning he found out once that I was riding without a helmet. He reminded me of the benefits of wearing a helmet. I had to do household chores. No excuses were entertained for skipping household chores. My parents had no discrimination of a male child or a female child. They always taught me to live doing my own chores from cooking to cleaning and perhaps that has helped me to stay away from home. 

Parent's in my generation were also involved with their children. However, they also knew the disadvantages of spoon-feeding the child. I have seen today's generation parent's doing their way of parenting. One of the parent keeps waiting outside asking the school bus driver to wait while the other carries the child in lap feeding him tiny bits and bringing to the bus stop. If they haven't taught them punctuality now, they will never be able to see a future gentleman in them later now.

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Few Traditions of Northeastern India

We have several traditions which we have been following since ages. However, traditions must be kept apart from superstitions. Superstitions are those activities which are related to happenings of unnatural or supernatural reactions after certain set of actions. Traditions are age old rituals that we have been following without any belief of action-reaction.

Pork with Mustard Greens

Most of our Northeastern India cuisines are coooked with herbs than spices. Most of our foods are boiled with herbs and thus giving our food disparate taste than spicy dishes. We even have our meat with herbs or even with sesame seeds. This keeps us safe from bowel disorders and also giving us the necessary food nutrients along with taste of meat. 

Betel Leaves and Areca Nut

Betel leaves and areca nut has always been our mouth refreshner. We have it after meals and it is also offered to guests as a token of respect. While it might seem strange to some people there is basic science hidden in there.  Betel leaves and areca nut are basic whereas most of our meals contains food that are acidic. If you remember the simple science equation -

Acid + Base = Salt + Water

We Northeasterns are always on the frontfoot while welcoming guests to look in to our culture and food habits. We strongly believe and propagate the tradiiton of 'Athithi Devo Bhava'. We also feel good if our guests share a bit of their traditions with us. This gives us a chance to experience the goodness of different cultures and communities. Our tradition of 'Athithi Devo Bhava' is well evident from the foreign tourists and delegates who visit us every year. We are simple but sensitive people and we only get agitated when our simplicity is taken for granted. 

We Northeasterns can proudly claim that unlike rest of the country, gender disparity doesn't exist here. We never had any tradition of dowry in history and even today we don't expect any gifts or lump sum in marriages. We believe in a grand feast and we strong believe in 'Eat, live and party'. Even if there are reported incidents of dowry ever because of influence from other communities we strongly discourage it. We believing in celebrating the union of two souls with food and wine rather than selling our daughters to a well educated employed eligible groom. In fact, in certain places you can see that men are the weaker gender and our markets and businesses are dominated by women. There are hardly any cases of female infanticide, female foeticide or post marriage women harrasments. Also, we never had any tradition to separate the women folk in to a corner of the house during menstruation. We respect our women folk. We are Northeasterns and its our tradition and we are proud of it.

We are proud of our traditional attires and which have also turned in to our fashion today. We don't hesitate to wear our tradtitional attire in any of our main events. We might attend classes wearing jeans or be present in mettings wearing formals, but when it comes to anything important we wear our taditional dress. Some of our traditional dresses are Sherdukpen shawls and Apatani jackets (Arunachal Pradesh), Mekhela and Chador (Assam), Phanek and Innaphi (Manipur), Eking and Jainkup (Meghalaya), Puan and Kawrchei (Mizoram), Ratapfe and Naga shawls (Nagaland), Thokro and Kho (Sikkim), Rignai and Rituku (Tripura). 

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Travel To Discover

Why to Travel? Is it seriously to explore new places or try out new cuisines or have an experience about different culture or food habits? Or it is just to load your instagram with fancy selfies and fish around for more double-taps or check in at new airports and let the world know that you can afford to travel? Is it seriously for yourself or a status quotient?

If you are travelling to save your social status amongst your network then its seriously an issue that you must give a thought. In this era of global village, where you are stuck between presentations and EMI's, you hardly get to know who lives on the other end of your apartment. If you are getting a chance to explore then you must go on with discovering your inner peace and exploring things that probably you won't even dream about while you are in your conference room. Some of you might find it strange but there are people who are more bothered about their facebook likes on their pout selfie in front of an international airport than have the real fun of travelling.

I like to travel. Whenever I go around to explore a new place I either do it alone or with the least possible company. Having someone with whom you can share a similar thought is what matters more to me than a group of noise making dissimilar crowd. That gives me a lot of benefits. I  get peace which isn't so easily available these days. I get to know the  place better as lesser people means lesser priorities and more similarities. Also, if I am travelling with someone special then it gives me a chance to know the other person better. It is about discovering our common likeness and common dislikeness.

Written for Indispire

Travel and Learn

How do you define learning? If it is mugging up big books and jolting them down then seriously you are being trained to be a parrot. You are just repeating things that is already felt, discovered or jolted by somebody else without even contributing anything to it. That won't help anybody. Obviously some teacher who is not accustomed to innovation would have given you good grades, but he has obviously killed the little left zeal of innovation in you. 

Learning is gaining knowledge. I believe the best way is to travel and learn. The thrill and adventure teaches you that there is no charm in waiting for the destination, but the worth is in valuing your journey. 

Travelling brings you across new cultures, new people, new places, nature, terrain and food habits. It is said that culture and food habits change every 100 kilometres and what is more fun in travelling across such varied forms of cultures and food habits. 

Travelling also develops your micro-mentality in to a broader prospective. You forget to differentiate across people by the caste, community, religion and wealth. When you stay inside your home you forget to love your neighbours, when you live only amidst your neighbours you forget the other parts of the city, when you live only in your city you forget the other places in your state, when you live only in your state you forget the rest of the country, but when you travel like the whole world is your  home you are not confined to restricted thoughts in your mind. 

Travelling also drives away the inner fear of home-sickness. I have seen a lot of people around who could achieve big but they refrained themselves from doing so because of their inability to give up with their home-sickness.

I was always discouraged by my friends to try trekking because of my weight. I did a lot of things which people of my weight generally refrain themselves fearing adverse consequences. I was never encouraged by anyone to trek up across rocks to a ice filled hill. If ever I tried, nobody was there to motivate me. Last year, when I stood below one such icy hill I was again lacking motivation from within and surrounding. When I saw a few people nearby mocking me because of my weight I gave up the fear and got up to the topmost peak without anybody's help. I did it and I am proud of it. They who tried to mock me, gave up in between. I accomplished another fear of life. I could do that because I travelled to a new place and that led me to discover a different part of me inside me.

Life is such a journey which is not possible to learn it all. In fact, nobody has ever known the whole of it. Travelling just lets you know a different part of it everyday. So I believe in the mantra - Travel and Learn.

Some Me Time

Do we need someone to remind us to peep in to our life for some time everyday?

I was going through a tough time of life. Although I was doing better than than most people around me, yet I was directionless. Even those who were doing not as good as me were at least sure of where they were heading to. I started long back but I didn't know where I had to end. I was confused whether that start of mine was the appropriate or I was yet to start. I was in the midst of such a phase that I couldn't restart, I couldn't erase away of what I was going through. I had to live with it. I couldn't erase the beginning but could surely decorate the end. The start was gone from my hands, but not the end. To decorate the end I had to change the journey. I did that too. I started peeping in to my life more. I started reviewing myself. Today I am my biggest critic. I wake up and while I plan for the day I spend some time thinking if it was taking me to where I wanted to be. If what I was planning to do ended  in vain than it was of no use of doing that. Just before going to bed I analyse the entire day. I also self talk and I perfectly realise when I do that. I got to know myself better. I also got to know that my limits were not so less. I could push myself to extremes which I always feared to. 

Today I am not successful but I obviously realise what I am doing to achieve my success. Today I am at least aware of what I define as my success parameter of life. Introspection helped me to be a better version of me.

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom."

 - Aristotle 

Penned down for the 242nd edition of Indispire - Are you a smart learner? Do you learn lessons from everyday things? How did you learn the lessons? Share a story.

Gradual Love

Love is the result of a momentary impulse or it grows with time?? The momentary impulse or what we call as 'Love at first sight' is exaggerated attraction. Most momentary impulses are due to attractions to a beautiful physique. I believe in the old quote, what comes fast goes fast.  

Love is the flower you've got to let it grow.

                                                                         - John Lennon

To be in love means to be in love with the worst part of your partner too. You can't ignore your partner at the darkest hour of life. To be in love is being like the captain of the ship. When its soft and smooth, he enjoys sailing with the breeze; but when the ship sinks he dies with it. When love develops gradually there is an entire story behind. Having an entire story behind can be either from being school friends or even hooking up with your best friends girlfriend. It can be anything. Falling in love  is easy, but staying in love isn't. Sometimes there are less of agreeable beliefs and more of opposing views. People can be totally opposite in beliefs and habits and yet love is what makes both the bipartisan's meet at a midpoint.

There comes a stage where liking the goodness in each others phase comes to an end and people start getting irritated by the differences. Fighting the differences and ignoring  the past are the two major tests. The best part comes when you know your partner and still there is something that doesn't pull you away. Its like falling in love again and again with the same person.

Falling is love is like trying a new drug. You like the hallucinations but when  the intoxication starts fading away you hate the hangover. To grow with love gradually is being an addict who would die with the drug. It isn't easy. Its love after all. It can't be easy. It can simply be adventurous, gradual and forever.

Submitted to the 241st edition of Indispire.

The Touch and Trust

What is the need for physical intimacy in a relationship??

There has always been a debate on whether to get swept over by your partners love or not or when is the right time to get swept away from your partners love. Intimacy helps to feel the warmth. A simple hug builds a trust that there is someone beside, always.

Its good to have an assurance of togetherness, but is it always necessary to get naked in front of your partner? Can't we build in an intimacy without touching?

There are people who meet their partners once in a year. The only intimacy that they carry with them is their partners pic safely walled in their purse. Our soldier brothers and sisters have been living all their life with only the emotion of real touch for a fortnight or so in the entire year with their partners and this doesn't make their relationship less stronger. Even in this modern day concept of global village, people are staying apart, some in different cities of the same country and some even in different countries. Their need and greed for intimacy doesn't drive them to be unfaithful to their partner. They too meet after months.

I don't believe that happiness, faithfulness and intimacy can ever be correlated. Life isn't so uniform for all. A couple can be happy without any intimacy while another might need that happiness of intimacy quite often. A couple can be far and still be loyal while someone can just be near his partner and still be deceiving.

There are couples who find it exciting to have that touch quite often and that they need their daily dose of orgasm. There are also people who are so corrupted by sex that they find happiness in changing partners often. There are also people whose only intimacy is the walk they walk together back from office holding hands.

The real intimacy between two souls is when you don't speak and still your partner understands. Spoken words are to make sense to the world and unspoken emotions are only to the one who is intimate to you. He, who knows you for being yourself will understand when you are happy and what makes you happy.

“there's nothing more intimate in life than simply being understood. And understanding someone else.”

          - Brad Meltzer, The Inner Circle

 The article is penned for 236th edition of Indispire, "Is physical intimacy the only thing which matters in a relationship? Can you live without it and yet be happy?"

Trust - Madhav's Strength

I have grown with Bollywood and this movie has been my all time favorite. Its been 17 years and I still can relate to it starting from those college bunks, fights and getting suspended from attending classes.

What if Madhav, who is one of the protagonist of the movie would have been a 2018 guy instead of a 2001 guy and he would have ditched Reena just because she chose to go around with Rajeev as he was the one who was chosen to be with her by their parents. Madhav and his friends weren't one of those who did let any misinterpretation build just because she didn't talk for a few days and was angry upon them. Madhav represented a quintessential boy who build his trust in Reena only through his modesty, and obviously Bollywood building the romance through dazzling soundtracks. With a broken heart, when things seemed to go away from his hands he didn't start dating a new girl, instead in one of the classic ways he got drunk and tells his love story to few backup dancers and he promises to forget her in the manner that drunk promises only exist till the hangover. The 2001 boy got out of his Hindu Brahmin rituals and ate chicken manchurian to prove his impersonation. His success measures wasn't any one night stand or love bite, but a simple romantic date on a midnight which his friends were about to destroy because of their flop planning but which back fired to be good. The chemistry went along and is still alive in few hearts and thanks to the absence of insecurity in Madhavan that he won his heart on her beating a foreign returned classy man.

Life's best lesson

The night before I didn't have my dinner. I woke up late on that day. I left home without any breakfast. I sat on my friends pillion. We left for breakfast at our old joint, but we couldn't due to an interrupted call.

 

He asked me if I could volunteer for blood donation. I instantly agreed, although I was six months less than the permissible age. My friend rushed to the hospital. While climbing the stairs I asked him who was unwell so as to find out if it any any of his kin. He disclosed that it was none from his kin but a lady who worked as a helper in the school where his mom was the Principal. We rushed to the ward and found a young girl in her early teens lying on the bed. We found out that she had severe haemaglobin shortage and needed blood urgently. Donors were asking for fifteen hundred bucks and the lady's salary was such that she could pay only for two such donors and she needed more. She managed a few donors from her known relatives. We immediately volunteered. The lady and one of her relative rushed to touch our feet, but we asked them not to do so as we were younger than them. We rushed to the room where there was some pre-donation inspection by a doctor.

 

"How old are you guys?" asked a lady doctor.

 

"Nineteen," my friend replied.

     

"Me too," I lied instantly.

 

"Did you guys have breakfast?"

 

"Yeah, we had had rice for our breakfast," I replied.

 

After our blood pressure check we were taken to the room. We were asked to take rest on adjacent chairs.

 

"Are you seriously nineteen?" I asked my friend.

 

He laughed and replied, "I have two months left to be eighteen."

 

"I have six months left," I added.

 

After our blood donation was complete, we visited the lady and said her that few of our friends would volunteer the next day. We were welcomed by a smile of relief from a helpless mother. We were contended.

 

With empty belly's we headed to a food joint. We emptied our purse and ordered for three chapatis and 1 butter chicken. We were allowed credit for some more as the manager was one of our close acquintances.

 

We broke a lot of rules hat day. We rode a two wheeler without any proper driving license and helmets. We donated blood even when we were not allowed too. We lied to the doctor which could have been fatal for our health. Things didn't go in vain. We got the good news a week later, when the lady called to inform us that the girl who had very less chances of survival as per the doctor was out of danger now. We saved a live.

 

The lesson we got is that we should never step away from helping someone because it could even save someone's life.

The empty purse

He tamed a long dream of investing in mutual fund. His little interest in the equity market made him tame this far-sighted dream. He awaited long for his first salary. Although it is not much, still that petty amount would have made his long tamed dream come true.

After a fortnight of his salary, he saw the slip out of the ATM. It was enough for him to survive for the remaining fortnight, but purely scarce to get near his dream. He had nothing but a broken heart.

His moments of disgust were interrupted by a pat on his shoulder by his father. He stared at his dad.

"Thank you Son for these wonderful gifts. It means a lot to receive them from you. Your first salary has made the home glitter again. Everyone is happy with their gifts. I am proud of you", said the old father expressing the happiness of the younger brothers and sisters and his mother.

He soon got relief from those moments of disgust. He was happy. The empty purse and his lost dream of investing in the market had restored the happiness in his family.

Written for Indispire

Illogical Sterotyping

I have a list of fatiths, beliefs and misconceptions which I would like to be eradicated from the society. Certain things have become part and parcel of the modernized society that we can't

• Anything black is related with evil and negativity. Why is black blamed to be so impure? Until and unless people stop stereotyping black to be something, we can't eradicate racism.

• The birth of a girl child is always associated with creation of fixed deposit, buying of gold and saving money for her marriage. We can't eradicate dowry from the society, until and unless we eradicate it from our mindset.

 

 

• Long hair and streetside hangouts are not a symbol of hooligans. Not all guys with long hair are drug addicts. Some prefer to keep hair long as a matter of choice and style. Having a hairdo is a matter of personal interest and any person poking his nose into others choice is not at all a gentlemen.

• A lady sitting in the pillion doesn't always mean that she's a girlfriend or a date. If not always a sister, may be also a good friend. Its actually the choice of the lady and the person riding it. Even their is no problem with any authority concerned, if the rider is riding withing traffic norms.

• Red eyes not always mean a person is drunk or high, at times it always mean that a person is tired. Any person on a cruiser bike to a long unknown dusty road will know the story behind red eyes.

• A couple on a two wheeler doesn't always mean that the boy will ride and the girl will be on pillion. Those who think it to be so has never sat behind a girl and enjoyed a good time while the lady had some moments of freedom.

• The kitchen is not always the place for ladies. If anyone has ever thought it to be so then perhaps they haven't read about women business leaders and had good food by male cooks. Its all about passion and interest.

• We have the habit of digging into history by the name of a person. While the first name indicates towards religion, the last name points towards caste. Some social judgements involves so much of these that personality plays no role in such cases. A persons trait can never be generalized with his caste or religion.

• Clothes can never define a person. People ususally judge a persons charecter based on his clothes. There can be a con in a dhoti and a gentlemen in a faded jeans. A few inches gap between her top and jeans makes it questionable but the same gap between the blouse and saree is acceptable. Clothes can never be a reason for judging someone's charecter.

• The girl should not always be younger and shorter than the guy. What matters is understanding and bondage and it is perfectly alright if we find it in a girl who is elder to us. Also, her height can never be a relationship deciding factor.
Submitted for Indispire

Mask

 

Masks and masks,

Masks everywhere.

With pride they hide,

The tales of glory.

They hide the scars,

Which hold tales of wars.

They hide the tears,

Which the heart broken boy beholds.

The pain of the poor father,

Who couldn’t buy his boy a toy.

The world never saw the pain,

The mask covered the dark night’s rain.

 

 

Masks and masks,

Masks everywhere.

They hide the faces,

Which pretends innocence.

The exploiters of beauty,

Who should have been hated,

Are being unconditionally loved,

Thus the mask does its duty.

The lover in a hooligan

Ever since as a child I admired the role of Radhe in Tere Naam. I have admired the realistic acting of Salman Khan and his role of Radhe. Radhe is a college going rowdy and hooligan who lives with his elder brother and sister-in-law. Although he completed his graduation five years back, yet he is attached to the college and helps office bearers wins elections. Although he engages in brawls and hits up people at times, yet he is not a bad person by heart and that he evident when he fights with a local goon who was trying to molest a mentally unstable girl. He falls in love with a girl and also saves the girl elder sister from a trap in a brothel. He also went to the extent of hitting a government official on duty, who happened to be the girls brother-in-law, not because he wanted the girl but because the husband was a greedy dowry seeker and such a punishment to him was the need of the hour. Because of his generosity, he had become enemies to several goons. Those goons beat him and hit him to a train boggie head-bar several times causing internal brain hemorrhage and ending him to be mentally unstable person. He ends up at a Ashram where he is being tied up with chains and kept like an animal. He recovers and flees from there, but to his astonishment his sees his girlfriend's dead body on the day of her marriage as a disagreement to get married to anybody else than him. He could have led his free life happily, but as a price to his girlfriends death he chose to spend the rest of his life at the Ashram.

This role has several aspects which can be related to most Indian gully boys. We are often misunderstood as hooligans because we are seen strolling around local shops in the evenings. We know how to respect a women and getting into a brawl to save her dignity is not a big issue for us. We are lovers at heart, but are afraid with the fear of getting dejected or with the monetary fear as mostly we are jobless as our parents are incapable to pool in the money required to bribe a fat greedy middleman at the government office.

Most Indian boys have always worshiped Salman bhai because of his personality and generosity for poor. I have also had the experience of saving part of daily pocket money to watch his movie at the local theater. This movie is a blockbuster and most Indian boys could relate themselves to the role of Radhe, if not fully but partially. There was a hidden lover in the face of hooligan and that is how Indian gully boys are, often misunderstood and dejected by the society, yet living like a hero.

Submitted for Indispire

To my future child

To my future child,

First of all, if you are able to read this then probably you have grown up and you already have a glimpse of life. Probably you are in a bed of roses or probably life isn't so easy for you now. May be you are fighting with the issues of early teens. Believe me, after half a decade those won't even matter. Three dreams that I want to pass on to you as your dad are -

• Firstly, I want you to love your country. You are born with a debt towards your motherland. You can only overcome the debt when you serve your motherland. Its good if you can be in the army and stand front foot while serving your nation; but if you can't don't be disappointed. Serving the countrymen is as important as serving the frontiers. Make sure you do something that benefits the people of the nation. Be proud because you are an Indian.

• Secondly, it doesn't matter if you are a boy or a girl. I don't know if you are going to be a boy or a girl and it doesn't matter to me even. I want to you to learn to respect a person because of his personality and not because of gender or demography. I don't want to you respect a person because of his gender, religion, caste, community, income group or age. I want you to realize that personality, attitude and thoughts are the real assets of a person. Tangible aspects like demography don't measure a person; but intangible aspects like personality does.

• Thirdly, I want you to know that you must realize the value of money and then you shall realize the importance of hard work. I want you to do smart work so that you be intellectually sound and strong enough to be competent for any challenge. I won't suggest you where to spend but would ask you to think on what you spend.

You shall be a human being, but its up to you to judge 'Being Human'.

Submitted for Indispire

Bhutan

I have always admired travelling to places that are blessed with nature's presence and filled all around with picturesque beauty. I have admired the beauty of the hills and the serenity. My dream lies in travelling lands that are saturated with picturesque beauty with the company of only a couple of near and dear ones. Peace and serenity is something that I feel is worth paying for always.

Bhutan, a land of monasteries and impregnated with nature is one of my dream destinations. One of the sought after places in the country is the Tiger Nest Monastery. The monastery hangs off at a cliff, above blue pines and rhododendrons. People take can take a pony to some part of the place, but on towards the monastery their is steep walk and narrow roads. The narrow roads take up to a waterfalls nearby through the snow lion cave. This is the place where Guru Rinpoche bought Buddhism to Bhutan on the back of a tigress. Paro valley, which is also an example of God's masterpiece creation is visible from this place.

Tiger Nest Monastery

Paro Valley

The Punakha Dzong, which is the second largest Dzong in the entire country is considered a very sacred place and also considered as a place of utmost happiness. The place is located at a juncture of two rivers, Pho Chu and Mo Chu. Interestingly, both the rivers belong to separate genders. The place is covered with jacaranda trees which bloom on during the entire summer and the place is connected to the mainland through a wooden bridge.

Punakha Dzong

The peak of Zuri Dzong Trek is another worth mentioning site that mesmerized tourists around the globe for hours and hours. The place has also a cave where Budhha came in 8th Century to meditate.

The Phobjikha and Gangtey valley are also places that shall make alive the human inside everyone else. The black necked crane, which is considered as an endangered species is found in this place. A wide range of plant and animal habitat fills around this place and tourists capture unforgettable moments for lifetime during their visit to this place.

Gangtey Valley

A small town with clean environment to catch up for amazing view of a growing culture along with nature is visible well in Phuentsholing. 

Phuentsholing

Bumthang valley is considered the spiritual heartland of the country and there are several ancient and precious religious sites at this place. Temples and apple trees are widely found in this entire region.

Bumthang Valley

Thimphu, the country's capital is a conglomerate of history and modernization. Buildings in Bhutanese architecture are seen there are those are built only up to a certain height.

Thimphu

Thimphu

Wangduephodrang district is the one of the lands where cattle rearing is clearly visible in pastureland's. Also various bamboo handcrafts are made at this place.

Wangduephodrang district

This land is a piece of God's excellent creation and where nature dwells happily. A visit to this land would introduce the people to an extraordinarily remarkable habitat and would also mesmerize the tourists. One can take an album of beautiful pictures away from this place on the visit to this beautiful habitat. 

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Relevance

I touch the feet of my parents before leaving, not because of any fear, but because of respect. I also have scientific justification for it, and that's what probably is being looked for. As per modern science, the right side of our body consists of positive and the left side of our body consists of negative energy. When I bow in front of my parents and touch their feet, our vertical body are in opposite direction. The left side of the body stands in front of the right side. We have the custom of touching our parents feet with crossed hands, thus allowing both forms of energy to flow in an uniformed circuit. When my parents bless me my placing their right hand over my head, their is the formation of a complete circle and which allows complete flow of positive energy.

There is a custom of visiting temple on Amavasya day and the concept of Ekadashi fasting. There is close relation between the moon and the human mind. Our mind is in its strongest form on a full moon day and weakest form on a no-moon day. To keep away from negative thoughts, people visit temples on a no-moon day. Also, what we consume is actually reflected on its fourth day. Non vegetarian items lead to negative thoughts in us. To avoid from negative thoughts it is advised to take fruits on the eleventh day, as that would help in developing positive thoughts four days later on the day of Amavasya. 

The principles of Veda's and Upanishad's are the revelation of eternal truth which are based on the realization of the Sadhu's. Santana Dharma is an inter-phase of both science and religion.

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