Indians & Pakistanis- Bhai-Bhai !

I have met Australian, American and European, but the experience never deserved to be pen down, until I dined yesterday with a Pakistani girl.


Of all the nationalities I ever came across, I was most comfortable with her. Then, why a feeling of hatred sets in when we think of Pakistan? Is it media? Or are these reflections of preconceived notion of our elders who faced vows of partition?

Her looks were more Indian than mine, even her attire was more Indian then mine, and her IQ of Indian cinema and small screen exceeded mine. She loved gol gappas and chat papri, relished the same dal makhani and saag. 

Indians and Pakistani relish the same spicy street food, Indians and Pakistanis watch the same “saas-bahu” dramas, Indians and Pakistanis speak the same language and, Indians and Pakistanis are die-hard fans of same Shahrukh Khan. And yes! Only Indians and Pakistanis can shed their blood over a cricket match.

Further, to my surprise there are still few Indian families in Pakistan, and they live as normal life as possible. In fact, Indians in her batch scored higher and got placed in the best companies, and guess what? The most conservative Muslim teachers and company managers out rated their performances.

If Hindus in Pakistan are living comfortably and Muslims in India are also living comfortably, then why we do not allow people of Kashmir to breathe some air. Are they victim of fight between Hindus and Muslims? Or are they victim of fight over a piece of land?  In India, now it is quite common to see two brother quarrel over a property of parents and develop hatred in the most cherished relationship, similarly India and Pakistan are like two brother fighting over a piece of land.

Didn’t these two brothers spent their childhood together, faced the same atrocities of Britishers, and fought for the independence together?  All for parting away when Independence finally came?

Are we really independent? Aren’t our thoughts bounded by the boundaries of religion? Aren’t our actions slave to what our society labels as good or bad? Aren’t kids much better, for them each human being is a either uncle or aunty may it be white or black, Hindu or Muslim, driver or boss?

The Journey to this independence is Journey to Spiritual Abode!

Acknowledgement: I express my heartfelt gratitude to the group of enlightened souls called Golok Express,  for bestowing me with the knowledge that I could write this article. Many thanks to the LORD for choosing me as an instrument to spread this knowledge.

Disclaimer- This blog does not promote any religion, faith or sectarian thought. This blog is platform for sharing my journey to spiritualism. I apologize if any of the thought expressed in this blog is against any religious faith or belief.

Breathe life not air !

This write up is dedicated to Dr Andrew Wells; after reading his book “Art of Breathing”, I realized the most inexpensive, easiest and least time consuming way to get the glow on face and vigor in body is breathing in the right way. Dr Andrew explains the science, advantages and experiences with his patients in this book. And guess what? None of the diseases, whether mental or physical, is beyond the benefits of breathing technique. He admits that “Yoga” from ancient India is the roots of this “Pranayam”; and the scientists are yet to study it.

I am not going to details how it works, but yes this little change in your habit might give you immense peace and health beside radiant skin. So, lets get started:

1.  Sit upright: Choose a silent place, sit on comfortable couch or floor, take the posture you are comfortable with but keep your spine straight and close your eyes.
2. Get Conscious of your breath: Begin with paying attention to how you breathe i.e. feel the air moving through your nostrils. It is important to first understand the pattern of breathing before changing it.
3.  Exhale first: Unlike we do normally; try to exhale first through your nostril until your stomach is sucked inside.
4. Inhale into abdomen: Then inhale back to fill up your chest and stomach, so that your belly moves out with each inhalation.
5. Breathe deeply, quietly and slowly: Have you ever noticed that your breath becomes fast and shallower when you are tensed or afraid? Repeat the above process slowly, take deep breaths but without making noise as if you are breathing peace into your body.

When can I do this?

Ideally you should practice this breathing technique; first thing after getting up in morning and just before sleeping; even 5 minute each would suffice. Once you get use to such kind of breathing, it can be practiced at any moment especially when you are under stress. Most important is regularity, keep atleast 5 minutes for it twice a day on fixed times.

Does other breathing exercise help too?

Yes!  They do. You can begin with this technique and add another breathing exercises in the morning. YouTube is treasure chest of such videos and demonstrations on “pranayama”; so let us begin now and breathe life into each cell of our body.

Are you really living your life?

This video clipping is part of one of the most popular epic on Indian small screen “MAHABHARAT”; and the LORD KRISHNA, the God himself is speaking:

“Another name for future is struggle! If our desire remains unfulfilled, then mind keeps on imagining that that desire will be fulfilled in the future. But life is neither in future nor in the past, life is in this very present moment. Experiencing the present moment is experiencing life. Despite knowing this, we fail to understand this truth. Either we are surrounded by past memories, or we are planning for future; and the life passes away. But if we accept this truth that neither we can foresee the future, nor we can create the future; we can only welcome the future with courage. Wont every moment of life filled with life?”

How many times we are actually in the present moment? Let us see! I am playing with my child but my mind is roaming in the kitchen “what to cook today”, on my laptop “lot of work is pending” or on my phone “Whats app or Facebook updates”. Dint I miss the little hands building the blocks, stress relieving innocent smile of my child, infact all the moment to connect with my son. Leave aside what my child missed!

For that matter how many times or for how long we relish the food we eat or music we listen or book we read? Let us peep into supposedly the most important part of our life, “profession”. Do you put 100 % effort into your work  in the office? Don’t you check the news or Facebook updates in the office? Don’t you chitchat in the office more than your family at home?

The first thing in morning either we repent for the worthless yesterday or plan for the coming day. Hey! Planning is not a problem, carrying the plan in your head all the time is! How about starting your day with prayer to God for bestowing us with yet another day of life? How about giving few rejuvenating moment to your mind by breathing exercises? 

We all know repenting for the past moment can gives us nothing but sorrow, and planning for distant future would fill our heart with anxiety. So what should be done? We can grossly chart the plan of your life based on our expectations from life without going into intricate details? Can you control the date of your marriage or starting family or retirement? Daily or weekly planning is must and should be  done at the end of the day but not before sleeping. Feed your mind with good thoughts before sleeping by reading your sacred scriptures may it be Gita, Bible or Quran!

Acknowledgement: I express my heartfelt gratitude to the group of enlightened souls called Golok Express,  for bestowing me with the knowledge that I could write this article. Many thanks to the LORD for choosing me as an instrument to spread this knowledge.

Disclaimer- This blog does not promote any religion, faith or sectarian thought. This blog is platform for sharing my journey to spiritualism. I apologize if any of the thought expressed in this blog is against any religious faith or belief.

Are we teaching our kids to say lie everyday?

How many times do we say our kids “Close your eyes and sleep, otherwise police will come” or distract them from the mobile they want by pretending as if crow took it or it got lost? Why can't we speak that it is time to sleep or you cannot play with the mobile.

One fine day when kid comes back with the excuse that my friend broke the toy, we would scold him for telling a lie. Why cannot we speak the truth from very beginning, from the day child is born? Do we think they are too small to understand truth or we are finding easy way out to tackle the situation? Are we putting the responsibility of our inability of handling the kid on innocence of the little kid? Are we not compromising with the righteousness or “Dharma” of being a parent? Are we not teaching them to tell a lie everyday?  If the foundation of building is weak, can we dream of building skyscraper over it?

Let us revive the Dharma of parenting to build a responsible society and a nation; ultimately let us make our contribution in making this world a happy place to live.

Acknowledgement: I express my heartfelt gratitude to the group of enlightened souls called Golok Express,  for bestowing me with the knowledge that I could write this article. Many thanks to the LORD for choosing me as an instrument to spread this knowledge.

Disclaimer- This blog does not promote any religion, faith or sectarian thought. This blog is platform for sharing my journey to spiritualism. I apologize if any of the thought expressed in this blog is against any religious faith or belief.

Do you see the glass half empty or half full?

“I could not keep up to my commitments?”

“I am learning to make realistic commitments and I do not repent even if I achieve 80%.”

“My child is no more among top ten students in the class?”

“My child could not make to top ten but I know he is good at concepts.”

“I wish I could reach back home early?”

“I have less time at home, let me give my 100% percent to my family.”

Have you ever pondered the kind of stories we tell to oneself, can actually make or break our day? It is all about whether we can see the glass half empty or half full; it could be the glass of our commitments, expectations, plans, or each and every moment of our life. When expectations are not met, we can either lament or realize it is best to expect from oneself than from others. We can either think, “ I am a failure.” or “ I can do better.” We can live life the way it unfolds or pave the way for better tomorrow.

One might argue that seeing the glass always half full is actually a sign of procrastination or laziness. There is very fine difference between being encouraging to oneself, belittling oneself, or fooling oneself.  Only a person of true inner strength can remain in state of encouragement and move up the ladder of life; such person sets goals seeing on which step of ladder he has reached rather than looking at what height his friends or colleagues are.

Why do we try to belittle oneself everyday? Why an effort is not acknowledged until it is substantial?  Can one drive a car for 100 km by putting just one liter of petrol? Do you think our body needs petrol of encouragement to reach our ultimate destination, the abode of Almighty? After all we all are on journey to reach the Almighty and the key for making this journey enjoyable is to see our glass always half full.

Acknowledgement: I express my heartfelt gratitude to the group of enlightened souls called Golok Express,  for bestowing me with the knowledge that I could write this article. Many thanks to the LORD for choosing me as an instrument to spread this knowledge.

Disclaimer- This blog does not promote any religion, faith or sectarian thought. This blog is platform for sharing my journey to spiritualism. I apologize if any of the thought expressed in this blog is against any religious faith or belief.

What is happiness?

Photograph taken from Google images

Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy; this is how Wikipedia defines happiness. However, what comprises happiness might vary with each individual. But how can a feeling for which whole human kind is hankering for vary with time, place, person or circumstances? Is happiness abstract? Is abstract achievable?

If happiness is end result of positive thoughts that sparkles from feeling of contentment, then what is stopping us from being satisfied? If we all understand the true meaning of “grass is greener on other side”, then why are we unable to come out of this race of chasing greener grass every day? If we all know there is nothing like “perfect” in this world; none of our relations, work, holiday, possessions, and me "myself" can be “perfect”; then why are we not coming out of this vicious trap of expecting “perfection”? If we all agree with the fact that money cannot buy happiness but yes it can buy comfort; then why are we not setting limits for our comfort and be happy?

Research also suggests that happiness is a combination of how satisfied we are with your life and how good we feel on a day-to-day basis rather than momentary time of elation as a result of alcohol, drugs, possessions or relationships. Psychologists have even prepared S.T.A.G.E. framework that helps you build five key happiness skills: Savor, Thank, Aspire, Give, Empathize. (http://www.happify.com/public/articles/the-5-skills-that-will-increase-your-happiness/). These skills might help in achieving happiness, but is this the real mantra to be happy?

Let us come back to what is happiness? We all agree that happiness is being satisfied with what we have. But this does not mean that we sit back satisfied with illness, poverty or problems; happiness lies in fighting the tough times with best of efforts without lamentations or expectation of results. Interestingly, some might face tough times in trivial things like choosing the right dress for a party while others might face the same degree of anxiety in an interview for a job he/she always wanted. 

So, the key to happiness is satisfaction and satisfaction comes from accepting our present situation without lamentation. We all have experienced that lamentations cannot improve our present situations, rather complicate them further by draining out our positive energy. Like every dark cloud has a silver lining; happiness lies in finding the ray of hope in our tough times. Happiness is understanding that "failures are stepping stone to success"; and gathering courage to climb that stone of hurdle to reach success.

Lamentation foster agitation and one cannot put in sincere efforts with agitated mind. Once our mind is out of turmoil that tough times brings, happiness lies in doing our duties with sincere efforts without expectation for results. Expectation of results, is like giving the key of our happiness in to the hands of our boss, relations or consumers. The good result of our effort should be considered as blessing from God while the bad results to be result of your past deeds. Taking credit of work inflates the false ego within us; this state of temporary happiness associated with false ego is sure to dwindle.

Happiness is thus not abstract, but right there infront of you waiting for you to knock its door. All it takes is a little change of seeing the good around you and enjoying the journey to achieve your goals in life; putting in your sincere efforts and leaving the fruits of your action to the Almighty.

Acknowledgement: I express my heartfelt gratitude to the group of enlightened souls called Golok Express,  for bestowing me with the knowledge that I could write this article. Many thanks to the LORD for choosing me as an instrument to spread this knowledge.

Disclaimer- This blog does not promote any religion, faith or sectarian thought. This blog is platform for sharing my journey to spiritualism. I apologize if any of the thought expressed in this blog is against any religious faith or belief.