SweEt dreaMs sUnshiNe, swEet Dreams mOonLight

Sweet dreams sunshine, sweet dreams moonlight

It’s a wonderful world, Ahoy, here I come!

Spread your wings and glide away

You are the tomorrow forever to stay

Little drops of rain your nectar’s so sweet

Brings in new hope as it dances off leaves

O do I see grey clouds clouding the sky?

And then I see a rainbow ever so high

Leading the way

Pray little one, pray to Thee

For good triumphs always to bring new hope & a new day

Sweet dreams sunshine, sweet dreams moonlight

It’s a wonderful world, Ahoy, here I come!   

Two Cents on Marriage!

So how do you know you have chosen the right path in life? I mean everything is uncertain to a certain extent and there is hardly any event with a probability equal to 1. To quote the famous English poet O Henry “The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate. “

With that let me introduce my topic: I am going to speak on the institution of marriage!

Now u all may ask me what is so funny about marriage? I mean isn’t it a serious institution? And you are absolutely right. I mean no one choses death, death choses u!!

So at the onset let me say that I am not here to ridicule the system, but since I am a part of the system, I do have some right to poke some fun, tongue in cheek, pun intended!

So two years ago, when the spectre loomed on me, my mother came to my rescue. She gave me an advice that I will share with u today. She said, you are on the threshold of starting a new life, a new beginning, take your steps carefully, remember that 1 has to be accommodative, understanding, compassionate blah blah blah blah…. I stopped her short; I couldn’t hear any more of those adjectives and attributes. I told her, “Yes Ma Anup is all that and more…”

She looked at me with a poker face and then said” u go girl”

But on a serious note, yes one has to be accommodative, unprejudiced, sans any biases in life… and yes by “one” I mean the husband..!

And in case you forget all or any of these remember the guru mantra shared in one of our MGTO classes, leave aside the anchoring bias, the groupthink, the representation bias, the information asymmetry and all that jazz, o wait did I forget to mention any other heuristic?

According to the e-dictionary read Wikipedia, Marriage (also called matrimony or wedlock) is a social union or legal contract between people called spouses that creates kinship. The definition of marriage varies according to different cultures, but is usually an institution in which interpersonal relationships are nurtured.

I feel we as a generation are very lucky to have such a grounded institution. We know we have someone to fall back on and realise that this one person will (hopefully) never leave ur side come what may.. june or july….

I belive in this institution, trust me I do, for god’s sake m wearing my wedding ring…I believe that marriage helps u make the choice between what is right and what is the husband’s opinion!

So yes all u mere mortal souls, go get married, increase the working age population, at the same time remember that with gr8 power, comes great responsibility; after all your spouse is going to be  your best friend for life! Go make the best of it..!

U-Turn

I feel lost; suddenly life feels so low
Is it because life is playing hard to get;
Or is it because I am trying too hard?

Efforts equal success; so try and try till you succeed?
How can you when your morale is so low?
When all you think is to leave this chaos behind and just go!

Go back or go on; what would you choose?
"Depends" is the new "yes"

Evaluation and decision making; that's what they teach you in b-school;
And you come out with new ideas, jargon, equipped with new tools

So how do I end this? Where do I go?
I feel like taking a U-turn; I feel like letting go!

So I get back; with viguor and jest
To fulfill the dream I had once set...!

Locks and Keys

Do you have curly locks? I do and the most irritating part about them is taking care of unruly hair. You must have seen all the hair-care product advertisements where they show how a model’s unruly, rough, dry, and frizzy hair turn into Goldie-locks after a wash with the particular hair products..!! I have also fallen prey to some of the advertisements gimmicks in the past, but not anymore!

I’ll call this a sign of maturity that I have come to accept my curly locks (with a pinch of salt). Of course I have found a solution to it… a hair straighter; a temporary one though!

Reading till now you must be thinking why am I writing on curly hair?! Well, I just tried to place this example to help me explain and touch upon a bigger topic at hand; viz. every lock has a key; every problem has a solution! Look for the solution around you, if in stress, step back, calm down and look for a solution, you’ll find it.

I have recently taken up studies again; and believe me getting back to sitting in one place for more than 2 hrs is just too much! Also the fact that you have to listen to a person talk in all those two hours…arrgghh… no salary, and o yes, did I forget to mention; you cannot bunk!! I had prepared myself to get back to being a student, and I am enjoying it… reading material, presentations, exam jitters...et.al.

It’s a bumpy ride full of enriching experiences. MBA does teach you to live life “holistically”. You get to learn a lot about personalities, how to get along with people. Life throws a lot of surprises. Lot’s of doors to open. And the key lies in your mind. Be open to accept challenges, be it in different people, different situations.

Reminds me of a song by Billy Joel titled “We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning when the world was turning…” and suddenly I am back at my study desk; it’s time to unlock and unwind.  

a little birdie...

It happened one fine morning as I was sitting on a bench;
a little birdie flew by and brought the train of my thoughts to a halt.

Leave behind your troubles, pick up your joys
Bring the sun on; dress up and smile

I let it guide me; I flew with it adding wings to my dreams
Soared high and far to lands yet virgin

The flight soared through clouds dark and dense;
and brought with me little rain drops, that were captured in a lens

I flip through the pages of my album, looking back at all the memories
smiling at some and waving the tears away;

Cherishing the treasures; building bridges, strengthening bonds;

Assuming that you will always lead me on.. on to the paths yet untrodden,
On to dreams yet unfulfilled; to emerge into a swan from a duckling!

Yes, lead me on birdie, to the beautiful life that lies;
To hope and energy I bow my head down to Thee and say Amen!

The Confessions of a Confused Human Mind

Tell you what’s bothering you right now..? The fear of the unknown, and the uncertainties of life!We are encircled by many such worries day in day out. For some we find out logical answers; some remain unanswered (alas!). And in our indomitable, and indefatigable spirit of the human mind of finding out answers to the unanswered questions we seek comfort in the ultimate power! We turn to Him to answer our questions and cry in comfort.

So in turn what really pulls us to Him is nothing but our faith that He will rid us of the fear of the unknown! Let me confess, I am not a super-religious person, no; not an atheist and not at all an agnostic person by nature. So although I do not keep fasts, nor do I pray everyday; I do believe that He answers to my sub-conscience. Like any other mortal soul I seek His blessings before starting anything new. “Why?” you would ask; well because ‘the new’ is indeed ‘the unknown’ and ‘the uncertain’. So praying to Him and thanking Him, is my way of seeking solace and comfort.

When curiosity got the better of Pandora and she opened the box to let all the vices enter the world, she did let hope enter our lives too. And it is this hope that builds the patience in us to look forward to and be ready to embrace change with an open heart.

Then why are we so confused? Why do we bribe Him to answer our questions and not be patient? I do not think that we do not have faith in Him; I guess we are just too impatient to keep waiting…  it was this impatience that made Pandora open that box; and it is this impatience that makes us bribe our way out. But of course now, imagine if Eve would have been patient would mankind have progressed?!

Think about it; and as I leave you confused, there is only one old Hindi film song that’s stuck on my lips “Mann re tu kaahe na dhir dhare..?”

S & The City

I miss all my girlie parties, the banter and the gossip… those long talks on fashion, Bollywood, music, latest ‘IT’ guy, the greek hero, food, travel, the next planned vacation, the name of the next person to be hitched, the other luxuries of life… so on and so forth…

It had been some time since our college group had met and exchanged information (a sophisticated term for gossip!!). So it was decided then, to meet and catch up on all the things lost in transit (of working round the clock, not getting time to call, talk, email, getting married, travelling, et.al.)

And what fun we had… you see women love to talk, share and opine (whether the audience wants to hear them or not). So here we were four of us, meeting after almost four months and catching up on the latest news. The other two could not make it, one stays out of the country and the other was at her little one's PTA!

Life changes and how; but women will remain girls at heart. We met and thoroughly enjoyed the luncheon. The light banter started with updating each other on the routine happenings; viz. office, home. Then it moved on to films, music, art shows. Oh yes our favorite diet and exercise!! and all of this while relishing the delicious Chinese food followed by dessert! So the next two hours were spent on learning different ‘yog asanas’ and diet tips. And not to let the other two girls from the gang miss out on any action we connected on skype and the mobile.

All in all, the S and the City lunch was fantastic, and we achieved a lot in those 3 hours; including planning and discussing on vacations (goa, jungle safaris) and lots of valuable tips (latest fashion, bargaining corners in the city) among other important things. So the take-away home besides the Chinese food: drop your guard, and experiment..!