Our Destiny, Life and Prayers

From Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Overall, an OK book, a one time read. But there were these 2 or 3 bits that I just loved …Simple words…but so profound.

Coincidentally, all are from the Pray section of the book….surprising because I wear this badge of being a very unspiritual person!!!

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Better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody’s life with perfection. So now I have started living  my own life. Imperfect and clumsy as it may look, it is resembling me now, thoroughly.

God dwells within you as you yourself, exactly the way you are. God isn't interested in watching you enact some performance of personality in order to comply with some notion….

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Richard found himself praying all the time. His prayer was always the same. He kept begging God, “Please, please, please open my heart.” That was all he wanted – an open heart. And he would always finish the prayer for an open heart by asking God, “And please send me a sign when the event has occurred.” After a few months of praying constantly for an open heart, what do you think Richard got?That’s right – emergency open-heart surgery. His chest was literally cracked open, his ribs cleaved away from each other to allow some daylight to finally reach into his heart, as though God were saying, “How’s that for a sign?” So now Richard is always cautious with his prayers, he tells me. “Whenever I pray for anything these days, I always wrap it up by saying, ‘Oh, and God? Please be gentle with me, OK?”

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Of course God already knows what I need. The question is – do I know? Casting yourself at God’s feet in helpless desperation is all well and good – heaven knows, I’ve done it myself plenty of times – but ultimately you're likely to get more out of the experience  if you can take some action on your end. There’s a wonderful old Italian joke about a poor man who goes to church every day and prays before the statue of a great saint, begging, “Dear saint – please, please, please ….give me the grace to win the lottery.” This lament goes on for months. Finally the exasperated statue comes to life, looks down at the begging man and says in weary disgust, “My son – please, please, please…buy a ticket”

The Guinness record for Talking goes to…

This post is a request…I had mentioned to my friend that a certain gentleman was BLOG MATERIAL and then somehow didn’t get down to writing the blog. She reminded me…it appears to me that she is following my blog and has been eagerly waiting for this post. (Well..SJ if you read this, you better leave behind a comment as this one is for you!)

On a recent trip to Chennai, my friend and I were forced to share a cab with a gentleman from our office. Our manager mentioned as we were leaving…’he’s a real nice fellow…but talks a lot’. That from him should have warned us…as he himself talks non stop and nineteen to a dozen!!!

We had barely settled in the cab that he started firing questions at us. In about 1 KM i.e to someone who knows the route, I would mention till we reached from our office to the main DLF Park gate, he had gathered from us how long we had been working with QA team, which project we were in now, how long we had been with Logica, how long in Bangalore, how long in Chennai etc etc.

Without even catching his breath, he moved to the next topic. It must be appreciated that he was NEVER, not even for a second at a loss for a topic to converse on.

Where do I stay in Bangalore, is it my own house or rented. As I mentioned ITPL, he asked if my husband works in ITPL. The moment I said happily unamarried, his brain started working double time. Calculations…and as he started asking more questions on my experience I could feel he is trying to calculate my age. I saved him the trouble and told him my age. I couldn’t see his face but am sure his jaw dropped. But still that didn’t stop him from blabbering away. He was like ‘Look at the girls these days. And then he started telling us about another colleague of ours, who was also not married, saying that she says ‘ she is happy like this and doesn’t want to get married’. The saving grace was that SJ is married! I wonder what would have happened if SJ also said she was unmarried!

But she wasn’t to be spared either. She was hungry and this gentleman decided that the next topic of discussion would be food!!! It all started with where I was staying in Chennai?  I was in a guest house and this place serves only vegetarian food and that was why he hated it when he was made to stay there the last time he was in Chennai. He was like “I need at least 15 non veg items on my plate when I am here in Chennai…chicken, muuton, fish…’. Had we been to XYZ restaurant (cant remember the name now)?” As we said no, he made it sound as if we had missed out on life itself. “What a place, so much food, chicken, mutton, gravy. He was like, I have told admin, I will stay only in the hotel. No guest house for me.”

The excitement in his words was infectious. SJ was like…should we go and have food there now?

Then he went on to describe the previous evening. He went to some bar and restaurant near his place…he refused to tell the name of this place as he began his anecdote. Not that he gave us a chance after that to ask him once again the name of the place!!! It seems with the beer the waiter came with…not one BUT 4 BIG bowls of snacks…and free!!! There was chips, peanuts, mixture…he ate and drank and ate and drank.

By now SJ’s stomach was growling and growling. She wanted to know if we could get anything to eat at the guest house. I was like I can ask the caretaker to make some idlis. That was it. Our conversation…

Him: for dinner?

Me: no snacks. (actually I could have Idlis for dinner but he made it sound as if we were crazy)

Him: At this time? (It was 7:00). If you have snacks now, when will you have dinner. What time do you have your dinner, what time do you have lunch? What time do you have breakfast?

Without even giving us a chance to speak, he was like…looks like you all eat the whole day long!

These are just some of the discussions we had that evening. But believe me, he didn’t pause for even a second in the whole 1.5 hrs journey. So much so that by the end of it, SJ decided that we would get off and take an auto.

There was one more person from his team in the car who was to get off in town and where SJ and I decided to get off also. And as all 3 of us got off, you could hear the disappointment in his voice…all 3 of you are getting off.

We smiled and nodded and at least SJ and I thought…poor driver, he’s in for it now!

I talk a LOT! So does SJ! And definitely our manager too. Well, he talks more than the 3 of us put together!!!

Email signoffs!

The CEO of a back packing company signs off his emails with a very appropriate 'Keep Traveling'...

A member of the Association of Bangalore Amateur Astronomers where I have joined an astronomy course signs his emails with a very hopeful 'Clear Skies'

So should I – an IT nerd sign off my emails with a 'Ctrl + Alt + Del'?

Marriage???

For someone contemplating marriage...this can change the entire perspective...

Money Making Scheme

If I had a 1£ / Rs 100 for every time a married person asked me (first thing, before asking anything else) how come I am STILL not married (emphasis on still) ...I'd be a rich woman!!!

Loo of the year!!!

It’s not like what it seems…I am NOT obsessed with toilets!!!
I know…the earlier post on the revolutionary toilet seat and now this picture makes one wonder but...a 'Loo of the year' award could not be left ignored :-))

Feelings Poem...

Have you ever read a poem that made you laugh…and then if you gave it some thought you realised that had your situation been different, its one that could really make you cry?

There must be a wound!
No one can be this hurt
and not bleed.

How could she injure me so?
No marks
No bruise

Worse!
People say 'My, you're looking well'
…..God help me!
She's mummified me -
ALIVE!

~ Spike Milligan

My new coffee mug!

Beautiful...is'nt it??

Want a good laugh?

I nearly fell of my chair laughing when I went through this website for a revolutionary toilet seat...
Some more features...

Maths!

Wish Maths was that simple in school !!!!

Funny Games & Silly Stuff we did as kids!!!

Sometimes, I think back and reminisce about my childhood. We are having a team building outing (Robin Hood Events) next month and that kinda got me thinking of all the stupid games we played and things we did as kids…

1. D.O.N.K.E.Y: A couple of us with a ball can be quite noisy…We would aim the ball at each other and every time someone would get hit she would get labelled with a ‘D’. This would be followed by all of us screaming the letter at the top of our lungs…Next time she got hit she get the next letter. First one to get DONKEY was the donkey for the day!!!
2. Elastic: Wonder if they still play this one in Welhams!!! Min no of girls required was 3 and max 5. All that was needed was some 5-6 feet of elastic knotted at the ends so that 4(or 2) girls could put it around their ankles to form a square. Then the 5th girl would need to jump on the four sides of the square, and then hop on the 4 sides of the square, keeping the elastic on that side under her feet/foot. If successful, she moves to the next level, which means the 4 girls roll the elastic to their knees. The last level is elastic goes all the way up to the hips. Hopping at the hip level was quite difficult.
3.Slam Books: not really a game…but this was a hot favourite. We had a list of questions that we would ask our friends … a sample
YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE...
SHAGORICA: To be a wek known interior decorator
HINNAH: Journalism
Ritu Singh: ?????
SAnskriti: To be an IAS or doctor
Amrita: Havent made any plans so far
Nik: To become a really good gymnast or athelete (hopefully)
P.Singh: Leave Welham first and foremost and then...
Meghna: A well known dress designer
Bindiya: A very well known surgeon
Ritu Lal: HAvent decided yet
Ashima Singhal: Computers
Shubhani: To take over my father's business and if failed then dress designing
Shweta: Havent decided yet, but maybe take over Papa's business
Aparajita: I plan to take up dress designing
Ramneet: Interpreter!
Jessica: To become a criminal lawyer
Aarti: Could you give me advise?
Sheenu: To keep flying all my life
Tara: Havent decided
Namrata: Eye Specialist
Vasudha: Psychiatrist

AN ABILITY YOU ARE PROUD OF...
Shagorica: My emotions
HinnaH: My 'fat' legs the way they carry me
Ritu Singh: Too many to jot down
Sanskriti: Have not found one in myself which I can really be proud of
Amrita: Making people believe me (ha ha ha)
Nik: Being a good athelete and gymnast
P. Singh: To go on and on and on
Meghna: My hair and my chinky eyes
Bindiya: Nothing
Ritu Lal: Dont really know
Ashima Singhal: My slow running
Shubhani: Long strides (not that long though)
Shweta: To make people believe in me
Aparajita: I can draw. And I can design clothes quite well (at least I think so)
Ramneet: Dont like boasting! ahem! I say!
Jessica: To carry on with life even though I may recieve a blow!
Aarti: None I suppose. Obviously I wont boast!
Sheenu: I'm no boaster
Tara: How am I supposed to know that?
Namrata: I dont know
Vasu: I dont blow my own trumpet
4. Mid Night Feasts: HT was the queen for this one. Before we left for the holidays we were given a list of stuff to get and then because the school rule was that the tuck had to be finished the day we returned for home that night we ate till we were sick!!! We would lie in bed giggling away as the food would get passed on from one to the next.
One time someone was going out during the term on a weekday for a wedding. She packed food for us and got it… that included ice cream. We had just about got to the melting ice cream when the ayah caught us. Someone tried to bribe her with chicken…stupid girls we didn’t know that she was vegetarian…and she reported us to the matron who confiscated the food and had her own MNF!
5.Bagsed: (I’m not sure I have spelt that one correctly…)
Basically for any school events, functions etc we would leave our hankies on the seat which meant that we had Bagsed that seat for our self or our friend. And the best was when we would drape our chunnies across the benches!!!

A not quite mortal Sachin!

Isn’t this picture conclusive evidence that Sachin Tendulkar is not-quite-mortal? While others ogled, Tendulkar looks just about as interested as he would be in running an extra single after pushing the ball to Jonty Rhodes.

Calvin...again!

Even on the worst of days...this guy brings a smile to my face...
The first mail i read everyday is the Daily Calvin Strip...

Wishes...

Wouldn't we all love to have loads of visitors and comments on our blogs...

Calvin Gyan...continues

Queen Of Fucking Everything…

That’s what the Managing Director - my client has on her mug…
As she sips her coffee in a do or die meeting I wonder… how am I expected to keep a straight face …

I just love that mug…I have to have it… I am in a dilemma…should I snitch it or should I snatch it …

Calvin Gyan...

"Life is like topography, Hobbes.
There are summits of happiness and success...
...Flat stretches of boring routine...
...And valleys of frustration and failure."

I love Chocolates....

My past life analysis!!!

This is what someone had to say about my past life...

"I don't know how you feel about it, but you were male in your last earthly incarnation. You were born somewhere in the territory of modern East Australia around the year 1825. Your profession was that of a philosopher and thinker."

Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
Timid, constrained, quiet person. You had creative talents, which waited until this life to be liberated. Sometimes your environment considered you strange.

The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:
It always seemed to you that your perceptions of the world are somewhat different. Your lesson is to trust your intuition as your best guide in your present life."

Hmmmm...interesting...very interesting...

Timid, constrained, quiet person...looks like I am making up for it in this life...

Sometimes your environment considered you strange ... Doesn't everyone think that the other person is strange (when opinions differ), the situation is strange (when it doesnot go their way)...

Kewl Abbreviations

Came across these cool abbreviations

SWMBO ("she who must be obeyed")...thatz me !!


EBKAC ("error between keyboard and chair" ) LOL