Monday, July 21, 2008

The transition......


Feels just like yesterday when i stepped into my junior college (Swami Vivekanand Polytechnic). It was for the first time that i did not have to wear a uniform and rather wear what i wished to. I think, it was by the end of 1st year that i got gifted with the friendship of some of the most beautiful people in this world. It was the most beautiful thing that ever happened to me, something that was to last for a lifetime.

We were a bunch of around 15 guys (ankit, rohan, jinesh, pratik, vaibhav, vipul, vakdu, sam, jatin, kevat, shrenik, bhide, me and a few others). We were called as the 'papdi' group by some of our classmates as most of us were gujratis. It wasn't until recently when we were being separated from each other by 'big bad world outside' that i realized what a blissful time we had spent together. Someone has truly said that 'You don't realize the value of what you have or rather take it for granted till it parts from you'.

Right from attending lectures (and sometimes bunking) to copying assignments to preparing for exams to watching movies, to playing cricket, to playing counter strike, to sitting for hours on end at chowpatty to going on outdoor trips to gobbling up food like 'bhookads' to night outs, what is it that we did not do together. It was like we were habituated to each other being present around us all the time.

Time passed like sand through the hollow of the hourglass, keeping us in oblivion about the transition which we were going through. Three years passed by swiftly and then came the time when were to upgrade from diploma to degree. At first i was a bit apprehensive when we were segregated into different groups (me, rohan, vipul, sainath and sam in vjti, ankit, jin and bhide in vivekanand, pratik and vai in dj, kevat and jatin in somaiya(sion), shrenik in KJ somaiya, and vakdu in father agnels).
But hey, that apprehension was baseless. Our friendship was always built to stand the test of time and it deed!!!

It was back to the same dhamaal and masti as usual. We had another beautiful three years waiting in front of us to be stolen and enjoyed to the fullest! And boy, we did enjoy to the fullest! This time there were some new additions to my 'papdi' group. In ankit zatakia, I found one of the best persons i had ever met. Then there was Haren and Hariya who were with pratik and vai at their hostel. My group was bigger, better and stronger. Life was a beautiful dream that i had dreamed about...

But that 'TIME', it seems it was getting jealous of our happiness. Thats why it decided to fast forward this three years also. The sand had escaped into the other side of the hour glass. The transition was complete. We were now supposed to turn into professionals and look out for jobs. We were supposed to transform from guys who did not care what day or time it was for having some fun into 'sincere' and 'punctual' employees. It commanded us to shed our T-shirts & jeans and put on formal shirts and trousers. I guess 'TIME' was really jealous for it had demanded us to part once again, this time more cruelly so. It wanted to deprive us of our fun time and our proximity to each other.....

But there's only one thing that I would like to say to it. 'The more cruel that you get to us, the stronger will be our reply. THIS FRIENDSHIP HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME BEFORE AND SO WILL IT AGAIN'. After all, the more a steel passes through the flame, the purer it gets...........




Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The Reflection!

When was the last time you succeeded in finding something positive and enjoying it, in an otherwise grim situation? (Pls try to recollect sincerely before reading ahead) If you remember the occasion, then please bring it to the fore of your mind, recollect it properly and just try to go through (and feel) the entire episode again. You will almost surely feel happy about yourself and the way you reacted to the situation. You may even feel a bit surprised at yourself as to how were you even able to think in that manner at that time in that situation in the way you did! It brings a smile to your face, doesn't it?

Well, you just recollected the art of thinking positively, didn't you? It is said that Experience is the greatest teacher. And what you just did was learn (or rather, remember) a lesson from that teacher! You just said it (or rather, proved it) to yourself that the world as you perceive around yourself is nothing but a Reflection of your own state of mind! The thoughts that cross your mind and the emotions that you go through under any circumstances are all a resultant of the amount of positivity inside you!

Consider yourself and your thoughts as magnets! Let the positively charged thoughts be the north pole of the thought magnet and the negatively charged thoughts be the south pole of the thought magnet. So, what kind of a magnet will you choose to be, what kind of polarity will you be having? Will you be the north pole that attracts the positively charged thoughts towards itself or will you be the south pole that attracts negatively charged thoughts towards itself. The kind of polarity that you choose will not only be impacting your own self and your reactions but also the people around you and your environment.

If you radiate positive thinking and optimism into your surroundings, you will get a similar response from the people around you and then eventually, even the most seemingly complex problems, the most horrible situations will get solved gracefully! Whenever a person is in deep trouble, he always yearns to hear something that may sound even trivially positive so that he can muster up some courage, garner some confidence to face the situation. And if you are the one to provide that moral support, just imagine the kind of liking and respect that you will be commanding from the people around you!


A few words of courage bear the same effect as that of the light from a match stick in a dark room, they fill the heart with bright happiness!!! After all, even the best of the sailors need guidance from the light of the pole star in the darkest of situations! So, be that star for the people around you and experience the change in The Reflection.....