PayBack

We can Pay Debt but not favor, Parents shower all the happiness to child but when there there is payback time it not always same, had it been the same then there would have been no old age homes around, human nature can sometime turn into worst in the name of worldly success and Money ,Read on....

A child is born who is taught how to take his very first step,offering best luxury from pampering with mild Baby Johnson soaps to Leo Toys, birthdays celebrated with best of gifts,rising early to get him ready for school with nicely polished shoes and uniform well ironed done by parents,offering best of stuff from camlin pencils to omega geometry box and nicely covered notebooks with brown sheet,vacation is taken to make his holidays fun, sitting in scorching heat to wait for his school bus,every pain and joy is shared and this goes on now comes college and debt is taken is get him ready for big world and finally there is takeoff and he is ready to take on the world now he is professional with dozen of Fortune company offers and he is the next whiz kid on the block but now pace of things slowly change;peer pressure and success become his best mates,he play games to hide his true self and getting up on social yardstick become his obsession, he believes in Good social skills and now going home seems boring, he complains about everything from old tap to neighbourhood, he is irritated at weakness of his parents and going abroad seems coolest things to do and make a life, money grip his inner voice and peer pressure turn him deaf and blind and alas there is no point of return all in the name of success.

Years pass by and he had left his parents cold and helpless.Old parent is now as fragile as child he was in his tender years, his weak bones make his daily chores difficult, it takes him efforts to climb the stairs, his eyesight is weak,it takes him hours now to search his glasses or find his watch, his memory is not as sharp as it was while doing homework for his child,he takes time to recall faces or hear sharply, he takes time to walk down the market and find difficult to carry load around, the wrinkles on his face has many story to tell, his birthdays are cold and depressing with no one around nor any Bday Gifts, he offer cold look at the door,he wipes old bicycle of his child with his old fragile hands and keep his toys as most treasured possessions, no one is there to share his experience or listen to his story or wipe his tears in pain, the winter cold add to his gloom and sadness, he wishes for warmth and emotional anchor and sit quietly in one corner of room with bad wheather outside.
In the park where he used to spend hours playing with his kid is now sitting all alone besides that old giving tree who had similar story to share and simply leaves the world with heavy sigh, should this be the payback?

Looking Back

Living in the present and in the moment is what every self help book from A to Z advocates and that is wisest move too but Looking back for good moments is not a bad idea either and just think where did I enjoyed most? School Bus or Cab, tea in canteen or tiffin box, uniform or clothes, daily fun or weekend, School playground or lawn, candy or coffee, rain or cozy room, Soccer or Walk, Air Gun or laptop, Walkman or Mp3,Freedom or Bounded? nevertheless of less luxury old days were simple and happy, no rat race to follow nor to climb any social yardstick neither there was any conscious effort to stay in present or trying to move the River of time. Although life cannot be returned backwards nor there is any time machine that can retrace us back but there are some valuable lessons forever left on sand of time and that provide valuable answers and solutions to present day problems and after all life was meant to be happy not routine after all

Money Does Not Give Kick!!

Without rich heart, millionaire is an ugly beggar so true,there are many wealthy people I have seen who struggle for peace with themselves and it is no surprise to see high profile cooperate people in meditation or laughing program! if we have equated money with happiness why is there so much suffering and why there is so much emptiness inside although the are making well enough well the answer lies in fable of Midas tough, the story of king who touched everything turned into gold.
making money is important but deriving happiness from it is not wisest move, money always does not give kick and when money talks it does not always talk sense, we cannot buy happiness on weekends nor it should be our motive coz we cannot fight nature,The goal of work should be achievement or fulling some meaningful purpose as an example greatest sportsmen in world play out of their passion not for money alone no doubt money will be by-product but it will not serve as catalyst to their performance

Savoring simple stuff is essential to peace and well beign, achieving balance in social ,physical mental and spiritual dimensions is very important than to get obsessed with making more, it is like running race with no idea of finishing line..someone has very well said, "if I am what I have then who I am if I dont have what I have", everything needs well balanced approach just like well balanced diet, stop the rat race and smell the roses.

Breaking Comfort Zone!

"If we don't change we become extinct"---From best selling book "Who moved my Cheese "

Doing the same kind of work in same way,thinking same kind of thoughts, meeting same kind of people day in day out and listening to same kind of music can result in boredom and life can turn into big rut, well Inertia sets in as per as basic laws of physics.Change is necessary element to flow creativity in life, Try something weird and be Cool Dude, Do things you fear to attempt or that does not fit with your day to day personality, if we are listening to folk music from years let us switch to Rock or Jazz, just an example. Little bit of surprise and unpredictability is must although living in comfort zone is safe there are absolutely no risk and it is same as small kid falling asleep in mother's lap but at the same time there is no growth:).It is fear that holds us back, but stepping out of comfort zone is necessary element for growth and progress athough there are risk involved, it can result in failure and disappointment but Smart people know to take calculated risk, move with the cheese and succeed, Edison Quoted "I have not failed 1,000 times. I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to not make a light bulb."Let us face Risk Zone or become Extinct!!.

Ancient kingdoms of Kashmir.

My older posts in this blog deal with Hindu mythology linked since ages with valley of kashmir, let me quicky recall that, Kashmir valley once was great lake called Satisar and Rishi Kashyapa is attributed to form valley by fighting the demon called jalodhbava, as legend goes, a trident was struck by Vishnu near Baramulla that caused water to gush out of valley and then jalodhbava invincible in its own element refused to come out then finally Parvati consort of Shiva is said to crush him using large mountain Hari-Parvat now popularly know as Hari-Parbat, afterwards goddess took shape in form of rivers and springs.Nagas and Pisacas tribe first settled in Kashmir.Rivers and Springs in valley are of high religious importance.
There are pretty good geoligical evidences and scientific data that is similar to legend according to which volcanic activities caused heavy earthquake that caused fissures in mountains and that lead Jhelum to gush out and as a matter of fact jhelum escapes kashmir valley through narrow gorge near barmulla!Another very important evidence is formation of karwaes or pleatue which contain lascustrine deposits and by any geological standard they are older than any monuments found in vale, these clay and sand deposit from great lake using many modern archaeological and scientific techniques clearly reflected the valley as once huge lake with any doubt.

Kahalana, work called Rajatarangini is old account of valley of Kashmir, He composed his Rajatarangini, the river of kings, in A.D. 1148-49, Sir Aurel Stein is attributed for its translation from Sanskrit to English and it is surprising that kashmir has written record of all history from Kahalana to modern as compared to India which rely on hit and trail method or numismatic data to arrive at various kingdoms but it unfortunate that we are ignorant and unaware of our history and rich culture.
As per Rajatarangini, the first king to rule Kashmir was Gonanda I and subsequent 35 kings that followed however there is no record available to trace them and Kahalana called them lost kings of kashmir; there is also record of Alexander and Greek invasion to Kashmir, there are numismatic records of old coins found near Jhelum river that support this fact also if one looks carefully at Buddha sculpture and many Ancient monuments we will find trace of Greek Art so we can think Kashmir monuments or Art was influenced by Greek Art and sculpture, Kahalana speaks high of great king Asoka as king of Kashmir, he is attributed to form Srinagar and building various vihras and stupas and he is credited to introduce Buddhism in Kashmir as he found Kashmir favorable for meditation and religious study and as a matter of fact Kashmir was fountainhead of Sanskrit learning and saiva thought of philosophy or Kashmir Shaivasm, the kashmiri brahim or pandit know for their open thought and intellect developed new form of Buddhism called Mahayana.S.P.S Museum Lal Mandi, Srinagar gives clear picture of various Ancient kingdom of valley particularly we look at Archaeological and numismatic section in the museum that has collected some important excavations at sites like Burzahom, Avantipora and harwan.to be continued....

School Days

The best part of one's life are school days without any second thought and it holds special memory in one's heart be it old friends from school days, first class room, school teachers, playground and it all seems valuable treasure down the line and it is best thing that life has to offer then there is ugly face of child labor that deprives kids of these golden days and it is cruel and same as slavery, poor kid is made to work like donkey with his tender hands, one of the major social evils; Schooling is best gift that anyone can provide to small kids after all it prepares one for big question called life.

Everyone of us is bit hesitant to go to school first thing in morning and and we make enough excuse to stay at home just like Tom Sawyer tries to fool his aunt Polly in Mark Twain's famous novel Adventures of Tom Sawyer well that is our natural instinct but then last period of class which is happiest one in which kids flew out of class at full speed like batman once the bell struck and are happy back to home;there are some naughty memory associated with all us and to tame the brat kid, school has methods to punish the little fellow in scary way but on this crossroad of life and looking back it seems funny and sweet.I have fond memories of punishment made by teachers:)

One punishment I remember is applying mud on face like facial scrub:) and teacher make sure no corner of face is left and poor kid is weeping non-stop, some kid have little smile on their face, Bravo:) and on the top of that poor fellow is made to visit every class along with his teacher and rest of class burst out into laughing and shouting shame shame now after much pomp and show, poor kid wash his face during lunch hours and still holding his head high and smiling and back on track. The most common is Murga Bano,well this I consider king of all punishment given to poor little fellow sometimes even load in form of school bag or brick is placed on back of poor kid in scorching heat for hours, sweat running through the tip of his little nose on ground, ears turned red and even if he is lucky enough he will be associated with two more kids on same punishment so that they can laugh in such situation:) and then try he tries his best to stand up for while and making sure their teacher is not seeing,well kids have natural ways to make best out of worst situation; another one though not scary in nature is facing the wall for hours and now if principle is on inspection and got glimpse of those kids then God Save them!! then comes the classroom and we have famous stick or long wooden ruler and kids are always trying to mess with it in order to save themselves from teacher's wrath, the blow is on hands but sometimes poor chap is asked to fold his hand so that punishment can be more hard on finger tips and poor chap slowly and slowly bringing his hand forward for big blow...... well all said and done nobody will dislike those days or feel bad about it or thinking to take revenge on teachers:) and it brings smile on face well that is power of school days!!.LONG LIVE SCHOOL DAYS!!.

Kids, This is Not End of Road!!

Our Thinking around Educational system needs to be reworked ,I strongly believe in that, the only option options to think around is Medicine or engineering and it remind me of horse with blinkers on who can neither look left or right.Parent raise their impossible expectation to literally kill the small kids and it leads to poor self image if they cannot meet the expectation and sometimes we have sad reality where children commit suicide, poor little fellow is sometime unable to carry the weight of expectations on their tender shoulders.Pleasing parents all the time is not cool idea to hang around , they will feel more bad in the long run if they see children is unhappy about chosen career!!.

How many people in valley study to become Archaeologist or opting Painting as career,well the proportion is very less I say nill.then there is another myth that doing master in science like M.sc chemistry or Physics will end up as teacher and he has only career to teach 11 and 12 students in hyderpora:). I have read dozen of biographies and every first rate scientist has been teacher in his carrer be it noble laureate from Abdus Salam to famous flamboyant physicist Richard Feynman but here the approach is cloudy, full of prejudice and our standard is very low, the emphasis is more on cracking the examination by hook or crook rather than real learning then there is another thing called peer pressure and many people choose their career what their best buddy has opted for again to be part of group and acceptance, well that is Rat Race for you:), I think it is real stupid to choose your career what your friends has opted for, he might have different skill set or different perception,this self defeating thinking and nerd approach needs to be changed. The west is lucky in that aspect coz they study out of their passion not what parents or their best friend has expected out of them.
Our school has emphasis more on memorization by rote than real learning, Scientific Temper and experimentation.Memorizing Arithmetic tables from 2 to 12 does not imply mathematics genius.In Experimentation part, we are very poor our schools cannot go beyond frog dissection or showing how galvanometer look like or the famous prism experiment and that too in class 10th!!, how many of us have done independent lab work in school then there are some lucky kids who do experimentation work at home and their parents support their passion, I salute such such parents and the best example is 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abinav Bindra, his parents provide him complete shooting environment at home although shooting as career in India was marginally very very low.
The emphasis on grades and overall performance is very paralyzing if someone is good at science but poor at urdu is though to be poor student coz he cannot top the class!!.we need to work on these shortcoming, I suggest following keynotes
1)Brainstorm the child mind about their passion and interest and work on key interest areas.
2)Provide ample of books including literature and science stuff to enlarge vision.
3)Provide more experimentation part and give opportunity to Carry independent lab work.
4)Develop Scientific temper and encourage why, how,when thinking pattern.
5)Include Quiz, group discussions and some creativity classes.
6) Workshop for Scientific work and display.
well Kids career is game of 40-50 years everyone of us is talented and we never invent our talents but we only detect them, see what you are are good at then go for it with Passion and it does not matter if you fail in urdu class so choose wisely and make best out of it and it really does not matter if your parent is scolding or you have turned off your best buddy just ask Einstien or Picassco.