Happiness

I have been noticing commercials on TV and paper that say products and services deliver happiness. They claim that by buying a house you are buying happiness. They claim that by buying a diamond necklace you are buying happiness. They say that by buying a car you would drive home happiness. One question to you all... Does happiness come with a price tag? How could these people make a mockery out of us and make us look genuinely idiotic? How can we accept that happiness can be bought at a price? If these morons are right then the world should be filled with very very very happy people. And I don't think that's the case. What are we teaching our children and the generations to come? That happiness lies in a car? If you study hard to earn lots of money and buy lots of things we will permanently have happiness at home? As adults we have the responsibility to set high standards for ourselves. We cannot accept being mediocre. True, we need a roof over our heads and we crave certain luxuries when we reach certain levels in our career and we want to give our children a better life. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. At the same time, we need to teach them how to be compassionate. And by teaching I mean setting examples. I was watching a commercial on TV about World Giving Week. A child is walking to school with his mom and he notices a homeless little boy sitting on the pavement. This boy keeps looking at the homeless child even after he walks past him. Then he runs to the child and gives him a candy that he had in his pocket. This made both the children happy and they are smiling at each other. Probably one of the best ads I ve seen in a long time and I am sure that everyone who had watched this ad would agree with me. That is genuine happiness. That happiness will stay with us for a long long time. That genuine happiness is what we are all capable of. Little acts of random kindness in our day to day lives makes us look up at ourselves. A little pep talk to a friend who is feeling low. Stopping for pedestrians to cross the road. Holding the door of a supermarket for someone behind you. Offering a helping hand to someone in need. Volunteering at a local hospital. Donating old clothes and blankets to a orphanage near by. All I am saying is that we do not need to be full time social workers in order to be compassionate. All of us think about such things and a majority of us do not go forward and do these things in our day to day lives. Being compassionate is much needed for a healthier and happier lifestyle. Lets spread good cheer and happiness this festive season!!

Think about it

A few days ago our cook came to us with an unopened milk packet that was half empty. Yesterday he handed me another milk packet that had curdled milk in it. After I spoke to the person who picks up our milk from the local booth, I learned that middlemen suck out a few milliliters of milk from each packet using syringes. The hole made by it would be so small that the remaining milk does not leak out. I could not believe what I was hearing.

I drop my son off at school everyday and everyday I find horrible drivers on the road. They do not follow proper rules, they do not even stop at red lights. The worst are the bus drivers because I think they would cause maximum damage if met with an accident. What are we rushing for? It would take a few seconds for the red light to turn green. But we cannot lose those few da** seconds?

I see well educated young women and men throw garbage on the road as they drive past. The same people would follow rules if they were in the States or elsewhere. What is it that stops us from being socially responsible in our home country? All that we are teaching the next generation is that all that matters is us and that society and social responsibility can be sacrificed. I firmly believe that the only way that our great big nation could really be great is if each of us start practicing and preaching self discipline and individual responsibility.

Retail Therapy

My sister is getting married in less than 2 months. All the ladies in my family including my grand mom has been busy shopping. I am the odd one out and find it difficult to enjoy it as much as they do. The traffic and heat and crowd is what looks larger than life and I have been very pessimistic about anything to do with shopping. I have been ducking out of all the plans they have made so far. But I had to go when it was my turn to buy sarees for the wedding. I was not really very enthusiastic about investing money in more sarees, Silk sarees!! It is not that I do not like them, it is just that I do not wear them and so I consider it a waste of time and money. But as it is always, my mom won the argument after 3 weeks of silent therapy and I had to give in. Silk saree shopping began one hot summer day. We went at 4 in the evening to T.Nagar on a Tuesday. The store was not too crowded but the roads were. And the traffic situation has only gotten worse after the beautifully constructed flyover. Good thing was the store had some minimum parking facility and I found a parking spot. We started looking for sarees and found a few to my liking. I settled with two and was glad that the nightmare was over. But little did I know that it had only begun! I had bought two sarees and I needed to buy another one for the reception and this had to be a netted saree with hordes of zardosi work on them. Being the sister of the bride, I was to look almost as grand as the bride itself. That was how my sister wanted it to be. So I had to take my car out of the nice little niche I found. The entire gang got into my car and we were off to another store on the otherside of T.Nagar. I think the next store was printing prices on sarees based on their whims and fancies. They were ridiculously priced. I could not believe that sarees stuck with some stones here and there could run into tens of thousands of Indian rupees. By the time I found one to my liking it was already more than an hour since we entered the store. My mom paid for it and we were out in a jiffy. I still am not very excited about the sarees, but I am happy that I was able to bury the differences my mom and I had. I guess it made her happy to spend money on me!!

But this just brings me to trying to understand why most women get excited about shopping. Atleast most of the women I know are very excited. What is it that makes women so excited about spending all this money on sarees that we might end up wearing for once in our lifetime? What makes us go around store after store looking for the perfect saree that has to cost some thousands of rupees to wear once? Is it because we find it most important to look the best on that one day? It is not just the sarees, we need to find the right matching accessories to go with it. I know women who start shopping for a marriage more than a few months ahead of it. I cannot understand how they do it in the Chennai heat and traffic. They do not mind going without food for a few hours.
I do not intend to hurt anyone's feelings through this post .May be Im just  a very rare specimen who feels this way.

Age No Bar!!

It was a fine August evening in 2001. I was at the Elliott beach in Chennai with my friends. 
We were having ice-creams from a vendor pushing his ice-cream cart through the sands.A boy in his 3rd grade was busy walking around and taking signatures on a piece of paper from random people sitting at the beach. His doting mom was right behind him helping with what he was doing. She was also doing some of the talking to the grown-ups. It was our turn and the little guy walked towards us, beaming. I still couldn't figure out what he was doing. But all I could think of was that he was going around collecting signatures for a school competition of some sort.

The little guy walked to me and said that he supported keeping the city clean and wanted us to join him. I was dumb-founded. The mother told me that he was not doing it for any competition but it was just something he does in his free time, collecting signatures of people to stop littering in public places. I could not wait to sign his paper. All my friends signed too. The second the little guy walked away, I quickly ran and picked up the ice cream wrappers that me and my friends had thrown just a few minutes ago. From that day onwards, I have not thrown a single piece of paper or garbage in a public place. I have never allowed anyone I knew to throw garbage in public. I have picked up the garbage if someone threw it in front of me. Age does not matter when it comes to being a leader! Experience does not matter when it comes to being a leader! The sense of responsibility that the little guy felt, matters......
He was not the little guy any more but a man already. Lets grow up!

Wake up to GREEN

Most of us work more than 12 hours a day and 6 days a week. We are left with one day of relaxation and that day runs dry faster than an open bottle of ether. Whether your fast climbing the corporate ladder or striving hard to make it big in your own entrepreneurial venture, your body and mind needs to calm down and take a break. Most of us are guilty of driving ourselves in high gear throughout the week and expect the mind to calm down at the thought of Sunday. Well, to tell you the truth, Sunday is probably the day for satisfying all our social obligations, shopping, cleaning, hanging-out with friends and family and the list goes on. So, how do we relax? My idea of relaxation is beginning the day with GREEN. 

Start your day by trying to enjoy a few moments of nature. Be it a lush green tree, or a tiny ant trying to squeeze its way through a few dried twigs. It has given me a sense of peace and quiet in the middle of blaring horns and continuous man-made noises. Give yourself those few moments and you will be surprised how far that will take your through the day. 

The Psychotic Lizard

Every morning I wake up, I have a routine. First thing I do is kiss my son a good morning and make sure he is properly snuggled inside the soft comforter. The next thing on my mind would be the frightening thought of where the psychotic lizard be, waiting in my bathroom to throw me into a fit.I would take a few minutes after I turn the lights on and come to a consensus as to where he is hiding that day.Once I search all the usual places and confirm that he is not around, I would peacefully finish my bathroom duties and my day would start. Why is it that a lizard creates such panic in my mind? I am capable of going through the pain of plucking my hair one by one in order to shape my eyebrows. I am willing to sit through a session of applying hot wax on my hands and rip the hair out of its follicles and still enjoy the music playing in the background. But why should a tiny lizard put me threw so much pain each day?