all-about-life-till8

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Durga Pujo and new clothes!

Nearly everyone from age 5 to 90 waits for this time of the year. Our very own Durga Pujo where Maa Durga comes to her home and we celebrate the eve. Since childhood along with the coming of this festive season we all wait for new clothes to be either gifted by relatives or by our parents. It is not that we do not buy clothes all round the year. Some of us do. Even then buying clothes this time of the year signifies and emphasizes the festive mood. The "Agomon" of Maa Durga. Be the poor or the rich or middle-class everyone saves clothes for this time of the year. We take selfies and post pictures, moreover we just wear the new clothes to satisfy our inner child which is trained since childhood that whenever it is Durga Pujo we have to wear new clothes.

May this inner child remain in every one of us and we continue to celebrate Maa Durga year after year with the same old tradition.

Happy Panchami to everyone

2023

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INDEPENDENCE DAY

Happy Independence Day to everyone!

Yes, tomorrow is our Independence Day. We will all celebrate our 77th Independence which we got after 2 decades. I am fortunate enough to be born in this era where I have the privilege to celebrate the day with my people.

Many at times this thought crosses my mind where we talk about the incident that happened in Japan- the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing. People of that nation, till date have still not recovered from that tragedy even physically. That is a tragic black part in our human history but so are some of the incidents which had happened during our Independence or in the journey to get our freedom. Very few people talk about the black tragic part of our history which happened in Punjab- the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The innumerable number of unarmed women, infants, children, men being brutally killed following the order of one person.

Very few people talk about the tragedy that people of then India (India and Pakistan) had to face on August 14th during the partition. We are still unaware of so many such stories where a mother might have had to sacrifice her son's company to gain her freedom or a brother had to sacrifice his sister to get his freedom and many more.

We as the citizen of our country have to make sure that not only the new generation of our country knows about our history but the entire world are familiar with the sacrifices that our nation paid to the Britishers.

So let us celebrate our country and the soldiers not just tomorrow but everyday by doing our bit for our nation.

Jai Hind ..

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Nothing in this world waits for you but the one book that you had started and had a bookmark on page x will keep waiting for you to complete it.

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It's human soul and heart that matters because the body can be washed with water and all the dirt goes away but this cannot happen for the soul or heart. The latter two need a lot of care and tenderness.

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Tragic Train Incident - 3 trains derailed in Odisha

The mayhem which is covered by all the media channels depicts the tragedy. At one place we see a father searching for his son amidst other dead bodies whereas at another instance we hear news where a father lost his life while saving his son.

We see the bags and the luggage which is placed beside the site by the NDRF team. Life is so frickle, we all travel by train. We prepare so much- what food to take, what clothes to wear, what luggage to take. The entire preparation takes a couple of days.

But just one such scenario makes us feel how frickle life is and how indifferent all other matters are. It's just life which matters, the rest of it is its coexistence.

We see the government sending notice about 10 lac rupees to the deceased people. But the ask here is our life costs just 10 lac? Furthermore what if all the members of the family are dead and no one is there to ask for the money? Is just the monetary compensation fare enough for these scenarios?

We all need to think and analyse.

In 2023, we see such train accidents, trains getting derailed. How tragic this can be! At one place we talk about India going into the next generation at another instance we see trains derailed.

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Amidst all the information gathered, all the comments received, all the feedback both positive and negative, all the expectations it is very difficult sometimes to keep your own self alive.

Sometimes it's just a grey line.

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Kabir

पोथी पढ़ि पढ़ि जग मुआ, पंडित भया न कोय ।

ढाई आखर प्रेम का, पढ़े सो पंडित होय ।।

Pothi Padh Padh Jag Mua Pandit Bhaya Na Koi !

Dhai Aakhar Prem Ke, Jo Padhe so Pandit Hoye !!

अर्थात्ः- बड़ी बड़ी किताबे पढ़कर संसार में कितने ही लोग मृत्यु के द्वार पहुंच गए, पर सभी विद्वान न हो सके। कबीर मानते हैं कि यदि कोई प्रेम या प्यार के केवल ढाई अक्षर ही अच्छी तरह पढ़ ले। अर्थात प्यार का वास्तविक रूप पहचान ले तो वही सच्चा ज्ञानी होगा।

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Social Media

Soumita Samaddar

The millennials are now falling for the fake world, as we say, the "social world."

Being present "at your best" every time creates a constant pressure on everyone to be out there and share the best of themselves always.

There are many who want to be a part of social media, but because of the "trend," they feel the pressure and try to avoid it. Similarly, there are many who are part of social media but opt out of it for the same reason.

Being on social media does not mean everyone has to be a sensation and must look good with a perfect body and perfect skin.

But that is not the case. People do have great, healthy, no-marks skin, but most people have acne, scars, and stretch marks, and there is no shame in accepting them.

Putting on makeup to hide scars or "the real self" and standing in front of a light to get a photograph clicked for Instagram is very overrated now.

It doesn't really represent our true self and we are losing our ability to identify our self-worth.

Trying to be someone we are not might give us a few extra likes and shares, but our real world is getting choked. So is our mental and physical health along with our relationships.

Is this what we want our legacy to be and how we will portray it to our future generations?

We should be brave enough to be our true selves and show them to the world.

People go through good and bad times, but we hardly see the other shade being shared as people are in love with flawlessness.

But humans were never about being flawless. It was always about the flaws and mistakes that made us who we are.

If we were to be flawless since the beginning of human existence, then there would probably not have been evolution or discoveries that we are proud of today.

Like nature, it has various seasons, and the tree might not look good to someone when it sheds its leaves, but it still holds the ground.

Similarly, why cannot we do the same?

As putting on makeup and taking selfies is a part of social media life, so should be no makeup or no filter.

Similarly, as sharing "the perfect figure" is normal, so should sharing "being fat or thin, overweight or underweight"

As sharing in love is normal so should be sharing heartbreaks. Everything is a unique identity for every individual.

Because what we put out there will set an example for the future, and we do not want to physically live in a virtual world where there are no flaws or mistakes.

It is not just for our future generations but for ourselves too, to remind us that we do not live in a world where everyone looks "only in a certain way".

Accepting and owning reality allows us to be true to ourselves.

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Modern Feminist?

By Soumita Samaddar

In a world where we are fighting to have our place as individual female entities, we the modern Feminist might have highly overshadowed an important topic. In this article, I will try to cast some light on it and take a different route for the modern Feminists.

We tend to set a pre- conceived notion about a man we just met. We may or may not know him but tend to judge the man without trying to understand his perspective. I am not trying to encourage any biases here, but we often tend to fall into this trap.

As we know that the majority of males are reserved, self- conscious and tend to restrict their thoughts in front of others . So, why don't we give them the benefit of the doubt either to express themselves or to try and clarify their thoughts. There can be a topic of discussion here, “What if we do not get the time to change our mindset towards them?” But, seriously, do we judge a man only when we have limited time? As a matter of fact, the answer is “No”. By the time they gather their courage and have their thoughts ready to share, we have already judged them and tend to follow our own train of thoughts.

I am not highlighting that men are always correct, common, we humans can never be correct always. But can we not treat men like we want them to treat us? Why do we have to judge if he earns less or if we have to share a bill on a first date? Common people, we tag ourselves as millennials, but this is the gesture we show towards them and expect them to be chivalrous always. It doesn't seem fair. There might be many who might not fit in the points mentioned above, but there are many more who do. Irrespective of any facts we just should be a little more cautious while we tend to build a notion for the men around us.

Our society is still a patriarchal one, but there are men out there who, no matter what stand by us, are always there for us as a father, a friend or a partner. Like them being around us, there can be similar ones out there too, so why have a pre- build notion for them?

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Jai Hind!

Since our Independence we have lost 35000 soldiers for the security of our country. We do celebrate the soldiers on special occasion but we hardly think about their families.

Yes, we occasionally do sympathize with the families of those who have lost their lives fighting for our country, but it is not always their families who live an uncertain life. Let us think about the other soldiers who do not always are posted on border, but have equal responsibilities for the security of our country. Let's go through some scenarios:

An IPS officer who is just married but also have to be on call the next day because of an unexpected mission or a threat to the country.

2. A mother who has to leave her son for her duty but had promised him that she would be there for his football game. Yes we might think that she is very dedicated to her nation, which she is. But what about the mother within her. She definitely chooses her nation but her heart crumbles each time she has to face all these situations.

3. A man who misses the delivery of his child just to be on a mission to save the country from a threat.

The purpose of all the previous scenarios are just to highlight that we, the people, the normal people of the country can live a generous life. But those who are responsible for the security of the country, it is just not them that their every day is a challenge. It is also their near immediate families that they have to go though and face all the situations. A normal day might be a privilege for them. It is because of these families that we have such dedicated, skilled and focused soldiers and we got to sleep peacefully every night.

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Gratitude!

I was on the first chapter of "A Call for Revolution by The Dalai Lama". The chapter is named "I Believe In You", where he mentions about the young generation and a lot more tings. The reason I started writing in the middle of reading the book was a line which just struck me so hard.

He mentions that our grandparents were born and survived two world wars. The fact is so appropriate but it never crossed my mind that we are so fortunate enough to be born in a peaceful world and environment where we are not threatened by our everyday existence/life. We go to sleep in peace not fearing that there might not be a tomorrow.

We should be thankful and grateful enough that we are born during these times where technology is at its peak, development is at its peak, we can experience 5G, we can experience drones, we get all the information just at our finger tips, people can trek to Mount Everest just for fun.

Just gratitude for being alive during this time!

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Old Age!

Thought!

We are kids when we come into this world, we grow mature and then eventually reach our old age and then finally reunite with nature. That's the cycle we all are very much aware of. The small details and nuances are missed in between the journey.

We are so engrossed within ourselves with small things that the main struggle or challenge that awaits us, we completely forget about that. That's the journey during the old age when people cannot move sideways and are solely dependent on someone to perform the basic daily needs. To perform the normal activities becomes a luxury then.

We have to gather so much mental strength to normalise that routine first in our heads. That is the biggest challenge in life.

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Being independent!

Be it for a man or for a woman, financial independence is utmost important. It gives one a voice and also an upliftment from his/her previous state. Isn't it important nowadays to do a job or a business or something that one likes and make it a source of income.

Yes we do have to nowadays. If one is so well educated in life and his/her learning just goes to waste then somewhere it is the society that has failed him/her. To be honest especially her. It is always expected from a woman that she does the compromising part, she leaves her job/business after marriage or child just to take care of the family. Is that fair? No it's not of course.

But accepting those terms are also not fair with respect to society. Then all those learnings and studies during those days resulted in nothing.

Women have always been a master of multi-tasking. So compromising the job/business to take care of family is something that I cannot accept and maybe there are many out there too like me.

But there are few people too who are doing those day in and and day out. There is no shame or disrespect in managing home/family/child but there is no sense in just letting your hard work to gather the knowledge to go to waste.

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Mountains!

Our Mountains i.e. the Himalayan range presents our Vedas. She has all the answers to all the queries embedded within herself. The lust green forests and vegetation represents the smooth journey of life, the rustic rock structure represents the hardships of life, but both has its own beauty in it. Every step helps us with our own identifications, helps us realize who are our important people in life. When you are on the Himalayas, life is uncertain at every step. That moments make us realize how precious is our life and how precious are the people and the relationships been waiting for us back at home. The thinning of the air makes it so difficult to carry on, but the goal is always to reach the top.

Sometimes, that might not happen. Its the mountains, the Himalayas always that allows you to climb her. There can be many challenges on the way, many roadblocks but determination can make you reach to the top if she allows. But there are heartbreaks sometimes. There comes some unwanted scenarios during the trek which stops us from reaching the top. Those are real heartbreaks. But that's life, we do have our fair share of heartbreaks during our journey. We need to gather ourselves and move on. Same goes with climbing. If someone falls ill or any of our other member in the group is unwell, we ought to cancel the climb. Yes, that is difficult but life is more important than climbing. The people around us are more important than climbing. The mountain stays where she is, but god forbid if something bad happens to someone that cannot be reverted. So, it teaches us the value for life and the will power to compromise along with empathy.

The main and the most important lesson she teaches after the climb is how much endurance and capabilities we humans have. If we make our mind at it then nothing is impossible. After the climb, when you just have the first glance of her, she will make you feel you are special and blessed to have viewed such a beauty of mother Nature. That confidence boost can create wonders.

Ending note- Love your Mountains the way you love your Mother. She will love you back and hold you in her arms forever even after death.

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Mountains!

Thinking about it just makes us realize how majestic it is. Have any one of you ever been to any treks, be it a small one, moderate or a difficult one? If not, then it is a strong recommendation. Not to enhance your Instagram photographs or Facebook page but to gather real life experience within those 4-7 days.

Many of us love mountains. We all love it in our own ways. Let me describe how I love my mountains. Mountains for me are not just a place where I go to chill and relax. To be honest I do not enjoy those trips where we roam around any hill stations and enjoy the weather and climate. I love being with the mountains, being in between the ranges, the constant walks miles after miles in between those valleys with friends and unknown people, making memories, leaving behind our footprints. These to me are real tours and the fancy name for it in today's time is TREK.

Why do I love them? That's a question I actually ask to myself all the time. The main reason maybe because it just stays there and hold its ground no matter what the situation is. We as human being sometimes feel so pressurized, loose ourself, loose self control and what not but when we climb a mountain and reach its top the whole journey make us realize how small we are and so are our problems.

Like for instance, we get so much oxygen here on the plains, but just try trekking a small mountain - that will make you realize what science books taught us during our childhood days that oxygen is essential for human life. Food for that matter, we get so much at home that we tend to waste so much more, but during a trekking we have to eat what is available at that place, be it Maggi days after days just boiled in water. There are various other instances, like amenities such as our washroom where we take a bath at home or respond to other needs. In the mountains, there are no such options. Yes, nowadays the trekking companies have made it so much easier. They setup everything, the washroom tents, sleeping tents and cooked food and what not. But it is not even close to what we are used to at home.

When we walk in between the valleys and ridges and trek upwards to climb it, it will make your breath so heavy that one step feels like ten. The key there is persistence, taking one step after another and walking towards the goal.

The same needs to be followed in life, isn't it so? Persistence is the key to move forward in life and deal with every situations.

Just to summarize, whenever I am on the mountains I take something back with me along with an enriched lungs!

Bye! Take Care!

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Life is a cycle with a wheel of happiness and sorrow. -Someone

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HI Everyone,

A strange thing happened today. I was out with my mother to get the booster dose at the hospital. There are many people you see in the hospital right, but we do not care much of the time. That is because we all are so concerned about ourselves talking, taking care of our loved ones that we hardly notice anyone else. That was the exact same thing me and my Mom were doing.

I just got the dose and came out of the hospital and we were talking about something.

A lady came to us suddenly. She was with her husband. Her husband was not well I assumed as he had a waist belt around. The lady suddenly came close to my mother and started sharing her story. To any passer by that would be weird right. How can someone who is unknown to us just come and share their story. I was exactly going through the same feeling. But I stayed there and listened to what she had to say.

She said that her husband had gone though a surgery but it was unsuccessful. The doctors have now referred him to another hospital, Sai Baba hospital(free treatment) in Bangalore. She continued with her thoughts and shared that she did not have the money to buy the tickets and reach Bangalore. They neither had the money to buy food and was just surviving on bread and water. Many can think that this might be a made up story just to get the money. May be it was. But my heart felt that she was genuinely in need of the money to treat her husband because her husband was standing few feet away from her and he was ashamed maybe because he was not able to do anything about the situation and they literally had to ask help from strangers/ passer by.

I am not sure whether she was genuine or fake but both of us, me and my mother felt she was genuinely so distressed about her situation. She even went to the local clubs for funding. But guess what, yes it was of no use. Duuuhh!!!

Today's encounter again made me realize the fact that Empathy is the word to sustain in this tough world. The moment she received a small token from us, the amount of hope she had in her face cannot be described. The blessings she gave us was unreal. Being an introvert it was so difficult to express the feeling outward but I was genuinely touched with her blessings.

May the Universe help her in her journey!!!

Due to all the scam nowadays we have started disbelieving people and so we tend to not make any effort to do something for the people who genuinely need help. Let us not always think about the result and just do our part. May be some people who genuinely need help be at the other end of it.