Friday, October 30, 2009

Love

We look for it. We need it. We feel sad when we dont have it. People who cannot understand it are always lonely, sad and hence cruel. It eludes us. It hurts us. It confuses us. It enchants us. It fills us with a warmth so beautiful and magical that we dont notice the biting cold. It takes away our sleep. It is there on our minds, when we are pensive, alone and lost in thoughts.

What is it that makes us look for love? Some look for it in friendship, some in casual relationships. Others, who are intutive, believe in love at first sight and look for some guesture, mannerism or any sign from people which shows them that this is what they have been waiting for.

I believe that love only comes to those who are loving by nature. A selfish person cannot hope to find true love. True love only comes to those who are kind, generous and loving by nature. The Gita says that Wealth only comes to those who dont care for it much, are dispassionate towards materialistic joys, and know how to use whatever wealth they get for the betterment of humanity. Wealth does not come to those who desparately seek it for personal gains. The same also applies to Love. It cant be found. It can only be created and spread. And what you send to the world will come back to you, multifold.

So dont go looking for love. Love the people around you - your friends, family, society, even nature and its creations. Love your enemies too - it never hurts to forgive what is unimportant. It will heal you of your wounds and help you move on. And the magical experiance which you have been dreaming about will come to you. Wait for it to happen. Some things are best left to God. Life is like an ocean. If you try to fight it, you will drown. Have faith in fate, and let the current guide you. You will reach the beautiful shore, safe and sound.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Somaiya Social Cell


I am a student of SIMSR, and I belong to the Social cell of this college. Its a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of this group.

We at Somaiya social cell, are a group of people who are tryng to make a difference. We believe that any difference, however little or big, is significant - as long as it helps to enrich somebody's life. We believe in equality, empowerment of the society, and social responsibility of every individual. It is these values that has brought us together. It is for them, that we get together, form groups, and think of projects to do that could help some part of the society.

I will now write briefly about few of our major projects. The first is Warli. Warli is a small village, about 150km from Mumbai. The members of this project travel there once in a month to meet the local artists there, who make some beautiful and special paintings. Our members take responsibilty to market these paintings in the city, sell them, and help the local artists. This is one of our most successful projects. Warli paintings are also sold at stalls conducted by us during special ocassions in colleges, malls etc.

Pehel - This project is a step to empowerment of the childeren belonging to lower income group families. I am an active member of this project. We work together to educate the children of construction workers in our campus. We teach them English, Maths and Hindi. Many of these children's parents cannot afford to send them to English medium schools. It is a challenging and a critical project, and I have learned a lot personally, from this project.

Sahas - this is a project that aims at helping women afflicted by AIDS or HIV+ women by teaching them vocational courses so that they can earn their livelihood and lead an independent life. I must say here - it is very disappointing, to know that even though India is in the 21st century, and dreams of being a superpower, the stigma against employment of HIV+ and AIDS afflicted patients exist. This is truly one of the social evils in the society.

SMS - This project aims at selling products made by blind workers, widows, and eco friendly products and handing over the proceeds to them. This project was hugely successful at selling Eco-friendly Ganeshas during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in late sptember'2009.

In addition to these long term projects, Social cell at Somaiya also has undertaken other short term projects, like clean up of the Juhu beach last year.

We believe that to be a successful manager, in addition to studies, it is essential to gain some first-hand experiance of handling projects, innovation, logistics etc. Social Cell gives us a way to achieve this. Also, to be successful in one's life, what is most important, is to be a good human being. To be someone, who can think compassionately about other people, understand them, and try to resolve their problems. Someone, who can look at the world in an objective way, and make it a better place. As the Gita tells us, wealth only comes to one who uses it for the betterment of people. Happiness comes to the person who strives to make people around him\her happy. That is the true aim of an MBA, and that is what we at social cell hope to achieve.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Holidays

Its holiday time now. Our college has conceeded to grant us 2 weeks vacation, on the joyous vacation of diwali, plus (we think) due to the fact that Mumbai is usually unbearably hot during october.

I spent the 1st week blissfully at home. Home sweet home. Where my mother and father take care of everything, and care about the same things I do. Where everything is warm and familiar and welcoming. Where the day starts with the smell of delicious toast and eggs. Where the familiar scents of childhood make you feel happy and peaceful .. like the scent of breakfast, the scent of your bed, the scent of mom's perfume, the scent of our own cupboard....mmm... heavenly. Home... where u realise everytime you are there that you can never have enough of it, that its where your heart is and always will be, where you feel secure, and protected. Home.. where you always want to be and always wonder at the choices you made that drove you away from home. After this visit, I have realised 2 things - That "Home sweet home" is the most underrated saying, and secondly, I will live here as long as I can.. untill I can find another place to call home. No reason to stay away is ever good enough, and no matter howmuch we stay at home, it never feels enough. Leaving home is always heartbreaking.. to look at mom's sweet loving face and trying to smile bravely, fighting back uncontrollable sobs. To look at Dad's sad face, who out of the love in his heart will gladly drag heavy bags down the stairs even though he is old and frail, and shouldnt really be doing it.. cuz in his eyes we will always remain the tiny gurgling lump that was presented to him by the nurses in the hospital many years ago. Home is where I belong, and I have made a resolution that I will return to live there as soon as I can. Parents are our gifts from god, and they should be loved, cared for and cherished every single day. We can never be too old to live away from them... and people who keep their parents in old age homes... well i ll never understand those guys. I am and always will be, attached to their apron strings, will always be their little girl, and will always need them in my life. My parents are the best any child can have, and I feel blessed each day to be their daughter.

Diwali is the festival of lights. I am celebrating it here at bangalore, with my sis, jiju and my sweet little nephew. Sis is all about "crackers cause pollution, etc etc", but we convinced her that easily available and cheap eco friendly crackers are still on their way, and untill then, there's no point in depriving her son of the joy. I ve always wondered why crackers in India are not sold and marketed more.. Indians do have a lot to celebrate. Cricket victories, tennis victories, crop victories, weddings, functions, etc.. it could be a bigger market that it is now. 75% of their sales is only through Diwali.. I think the fireworks industry in India has a huge potential.

Signing out now ... :) Happy diwali :D

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Family

I dont know how to start this blog. But I do know that it has to be written, as its one of the main chapters in my life, one of those which define me.

My family is my biggest strenghth. They give me love, affection, hope, warmth and security. The feeling that I am not alone, that even if the whole world is against me , can come only through them. They take care of me when I am ill, correct me when I am wrong, hold me when I am sad, praise my every virtue, celebrate my triumphs, and are always with me. Even though I may be far away from them, their essence will always be with me. That's how I feel when I meet my relatives, and family friends.. that I am never away from home.

The place where I grew up.. I met many people. Most of them hate meeting their relatives.. but do so due to an obligation of a social or some other kind. They feel that their relatives are always competing with them, interfering in their personal lives, and in general, are not very pleasant. I feel blessed that I have never felt that way so far about any of my relatives. Since none of them stay in the city where I spent 20 years of my life, and the fact that my life was always full of exams, tutions and later on, work, I never really had the time to meet them or know them. I used to feel sad and I cherished all the moments I spent with them, rare as they were.

Then the decision to come to Mumbai to do MBA was taken. It was the first time I was moving away from home. It felt surreal.. like I was leaping off the safe edge into an abyss. My father sensed my feelings. He took me to Mumbai, and introduced me to our family friends who live here . Also he gave me the numbers of my aunt and my cousin, and I was told by all of them to visit as often as I could and that I could always depend on them.

And I am so grateful that it happened. Now everytime I miss home, or feel the need for family, where people genuinely care aboout me, are not playing any games, and treat me like one of their own, I visit them. I love being with them, and I love spending time at their homes. I feel like my parents are next to me, and watching out for me. I feel blessed to have such relatives, and I feel more blessed to have such wonderful parents, who people love and adore so much that they will take out their precious time for their crazy daughter.

Diwali vacation is coming, and I am dying to meet my parents again. Also my sweet baby nephew, my dear sister and my brother-in-law, one of the few people who I both adore and respect. I cant wait to be with them again. Separation has only made me realise more that I can never stay away from my parents .. that I'll always be their little girl, and no matter how old I grow, I'll always need them. Parents are the most precious gifts from god, we must always treasure them. Care for them, respect them, and value them.

And of course... him. He is the love of my life, with who I want to spend the rest of my life with. When I am with him, I feel as secure as I do with my parents. After my parents are gone, only he can fill that void, and can prevent me from falling apart. He is my hero and my prince, my true soulmate. I am waiting longingly for the day when we take our vows and our lives get joined forever. He is the one, my hope, my faith..........my future family.