The Android Generation!

Blog#14

Imagine your face in the picture. Funny yet suits the present arena. Isn't it?

You must've heard about Android software and the devices run on it. Surprisingly, I can observe these days, an ocean of young minds becoming android. No no, don't worry. I'm not at all pointing towards human computers. My gesture is towards the alarmingly increasing digital sphere in our lives. We are so driven to these blue lights, that we've almost forgotten the natural lights. I, myself now read e-books and reading the paper books have become a rare phenomenon.

Be it entertainment, be it knowledge, be it business, be it studies. It has not only shadowed our lives, but have rather crept us in a tight grab all around. With demonetization in India, we have seen an increasing drift towards the digital accounts and payments. With words like IOT (Internet of things) trending, instead of adapting technology to our convenience, we're adapting ourselves to the changing tech gadgets and emerging innovations. The degree of penetration of this virtuality in our lives must be decided by us and not the virtual world itself!

A matter of fact is, instead of refraining from it, we're heading more and more towards it. No harm in this at all, if we do not neglect at the same time, about the origins of birth of these ideas. These facilities are ought to make our lives easier, aren't they? But I see complicated lives more in number. We're so very engulfed in virtuality, that reality now has become water under the bridge!

Let us simplify this. The people we live around have an impact on our lives. But gradually, we're losing hold on people. We least care about their world. We've become so liberal that our lives hardly intersect.

Even if they do, they intersect on facebook, instagram, twitter, snapchat, tinder, YouTube etcetera. These have evolved as tools to kill time. We are no more humans. Let's rename ourselves to android. After all, that is what has obsessed our lives!

Situation has got so intense, that these days you need a 'Pokemon Go' to explore the nature. The need for new display pictures drive you to hang out with your friends. Recently, an article caught my attention about a plane catching fire where passengers had to be evacuated safe instantaneously after emergency landing. Bewildering it was to find that a person kept shouting for his "laptop" and was in a bid to take that as well knowing that fire was spreading. He kept at stake his own life and those of hundreds others while the smoke had completely hovered the place. Alas! laptop above lives! This might be just one person, but definitely it reflects the changing mindset of humans.

I admit that digitization is a great change; from our conventional lives. In fact, that has only saved us during the days of cash crunch. It has done wonders and will keep doing so. But all I have is a simple request, to self and everybody who is reading this. Amidst all this chaos, don't forget the very basic drive that has somewhere been left behind. Don't forget 'you', yourself! Think about it. You'll find that in the process of connecting with self, you'll automatically connect with such souls vibrating around, waiting to be found. Isn't that amazing! 

Equilibrium: The Nature's Law

All the answers lie within the nature. All you ought is to find them.

Blog #13

Equilibrium. We all have studied this term in our science textbooks during schooldays. The tendency of all matter to stay in the state of equilibrium or balance. A drop of water is spherical as sphere is the most stable structure keeping all forces balanced. As David Viscott rightly puts in his book meditation, "Nature is creativity's best inspiration.". So have we ever correlated this with our daily lives? If not, then I guess this is the time!

Everything demands balance. From a little game to all the games of life. Be it your behaviour, your social space, your reactions, your studies, your business, your job, your relationship; everything. There are times we get impulses when we find something abhorrent yet we require to keep our cool. Such situation becomes terse when you don't scholar the art of balance. Consequently you might even loose a job or a relationship. During student life, we always find it hard to focus on both studies as well as the extra curricular and other personality development activities. You keep an eye on the other and the previous one sneaks out of sight! It has been oft quoted that the toppers are never the most successful ones, rather those are the average students who make the bigger cut in career. The reason can be very well understood from the sanskrit proverb "अति सर्वत्र वर्जयेत्" meaning excess of anything is never good, be it due to any reason. Gaining the worldly wise tactics and practical knowledge is equally important with learning the theory. But then again, one is never perfect! You don't have equal interests in all the fields. Then how come you create a balance. Well, that's where the art lies.

Keeping calm, maintaining your poise comes with self control, meditation and self discipline. You cannot let the wings of your 'so called heart' fly all the time, everywhere. There has to be a control on distractions which comes from concentration. This can attained by meditation, or by any other exercise or sport. The very basic strategy of every sport is focus and balance. Keep iterating yourself about this theory or keep observing the nature and stay inspired. Once you master this art, you acquire a trump card to become almost undefeatable in all the spheres of life. It's not just me who think so, rather this has been the ancient formula given by our sages. We've forgotten to implement it.

An old English saying goes as, "Everything in moderation is the secret."

Let us give it a start, and attain the balance of mind. Life is a game, let's master it.

Growing up

Blog #12
Friends, we talk triumphantly about several stages of life. Childhood, adolescence, grown up lads and so on. But have we ever given a thought, what actually segregates the other? What exactly are the lines of distinction of these phases; the boundaries?
Every moment, we transform. With every breath, the metabolism in our body changes; and so do us. Our perceptions, our whims, our passions; they all develop with every new experience. So, to summarise, it would be apt to say that each moment is a creator of a modified us! This process can gain pace just as epiphany comes into play and we reflect our experiences and realise that all we go through has some purpose. Some farther purpose. Without having a little talk with yourself amidst your hectic day, you are, in real just running; oblivious of your purpose, of your spirit.

Why not we search it. Why not we seek ourselves! Give yourselves some time. Contemplate. You'll see that the advices you give to others, have actually begun to be implemented by you! You'll naturally feel an inch grown up from your previous mental height. Your horizons extended each day. Your breaths expanded each moment. Interesting it is that it accompanies with it a pinch of solace as your reward! Interesting it is, to grow up.

One more interesting thing about this is, there will be times when you'll feel " I've had enough. I have learnt to stand by even the most turbulent of storms in life. There can be nothing darker. I have been so strong. All that is to come, will now pass smoothly as I am a modified version of me." But, life always proves to be a winner. It is better prepared to knock you down each time you get arrogant about being strong and teaches you another lesson. Isn't it intriguing? You never stop growing. It is a phenomena till eternity.

Don't get older, get better!

Nonetheless easy as this may sound, it is the most arduous of tasks. "We grow up with age" is a myth. We rather grow with each learning. No doubt, with age you get more chances to learn. But at the end of the day, it is up to us. How much do we want to grab! Growing up is an art to be mastered at. Let us also accomplish it. Let us ascend each moment, to a higher level and keep on increasing the limits, extend the periphery of our reach.

Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.     

Chili Davis

A Masquerade

BLOG#11
I recently went to a masquerade. Different types of masks on people visible in the gleamy coloured lights in abysmally dark party with loud bass music. Beneath the masks, hid the free souls that crave to be unmasked here in the sea of masks. Yes! That is the irony. In daily lives, though being unmasked, we wear masks. Not physical masks, but the invisible ones. Interesting is that, behind them, we've blocked ourselves to wander freely. The society that has set us boundaries for everything. The apparent lives that this social psychology has paved. The paths directed by the myths, the notions of society. The paths we choose blindly depending upon what seems to be right, with deaf ears to what our inner whims cry. We have been living the lives given to us by the people around and their mindsets. Have we ever tried listening to the sleek voices which have been left unacknowledged? Maybe that is why, we require masks in such parties to unmask these souls for a while and just sway in absolute forgetfulness carefree of the worries. A temporary escape from this mundane world.

Why not we choose a life, that requires no escapade. Let the innocent voices guide us, to glory. Be it off the track, your ways; just bring them to life. No doubt money, power, fame and other such materialistic things matter in life and cast a shadow upon the lives we choose. But just for a second, think, what really matters at the end of the day? It is the happiness, the satisfaction you feel. With time, we have learnt to teach our hearts, the new dimensions of happiness. We've very well taught ourselves to like our paths. We've learnt to compromise resulting in the desire to elope.

So throw away the masks. Don't love what you choose, choose what you love. YOLO!

I'll conclude with a poem written by my brother while in high school, based on mask and importance of humbleness in life:

"Bear your face, 
Don't be masked
Say what you has 
Otherwise will be laughed. 

If you're asked, 
You are what 
Don't reveal I'm at top 
Say there are steps to walk. "
-SIDDHARTH JAIN

P.S.: If their is any query regarding your lives, if something is disturbing you, feel free to contact me at my email id akansha.jain33@gmail.com 
'Cause you never know, what might heal you.

Highs and lows

BLOG #10

Life is an interesting game. Play with all your might.

We often feel low and high. Some refer to it as mood swings, some as craziness. That's absolutely normal for a human being. But, noticeable is that the frequency of our lows is very very higher than the highs. Moreover, this gap is being widened more and more in us. Nevertheless, all seems to be in it's right place, we experience a wave of blankness. The controversy that develops here is how the hell does this happen and where does this come from. There can be several reasons. The answer lies within.

=> I closed my eyes and found that it is the lack of satisfaction that gives birth to such state of lull. We have kept our heart on lease and instead use a hell lot of brain in all that we do, so the gleam of gratification is absent. I don't ask you to alter this situation and keep aside your brain. Rather smartness would be to treat the heart as coach, but ultimately let brain be the player.

=> At times, you get so dominated by the circumstances around that lead you to your darker side. My take on this would be why letting yourself feel the harsh tides. This will only increase your resistivity towards tough situations and will make you more and more immune to such situations later.

=> Now how about being disappointed from a near and dear one. First of all, delete these crap words from your dictionary such as bff (best friends forever), close one, foe etcetera. A person is just a person, what he actually is! Your perception of him/her creates contours. You have an image of the person, and have created standards for their do's and don'ts. You expect a behaviour from their image in your mind and then you want it to be exactly that way. When these behaviours match, you feel love and whenever these contradict, your get annoyed and sad. The basic funda is omitting these static images, the chunk of illusions out of your head and replacing it with dynamic acceptance of their responses to different situations.  Instead of living in those illusions and getting disheartened each time a piece of it tumbles down, if you'll just absorb the truth as it is, about anyone, things will be at peace. So will be your heart. Accept any good from a person as a gift and discard everything else along garbage. Though I knew this technique long before , I could only learn to implement it over time. Easier said than done. But, you'll definitely feel the change if you try this with wholesome efforts.

Coming to the highs, when you feel low less often, you'll automatically feel heavenly. Do whatever elates you. Be with whoever brings out the best in you. Ding dong. All your worries are lost and turned into gaiety.

If you any suggestions regarding this post, please respond. 
Email: akansha.jain33@gmail.com

Cell phone in every hand.

BLOG #9

Cell phones.
Yes! 'Cells' these are; in which we have been trapped. In this era of modernity, we find ourselves locked in these self created cages. Isolated entirely from the world in real; the world in existence.
I'm not against the use of any electronic device. I appreciate their phenomenal capabilities downright; I myself is pursuing engineering in electronics and communication! These devices have blessed us by letting us do almost anything that hits our mind, within few milliseconds. It's a wonder. A revolutionary time. The terms are getting more and more dynamic. With terms, my gesture is of human behaviour, social interactions, relations and their parameters.
The utmost irony lies in the term 'social media'. This word forces me to rethink what being social is! Is it to disconnect socially and connect with nothing but objects! Hurray! We are in a process of generating an entire species of robots. These robots interfacing with electronic devices in the most skillful of ways.
Nevertheless, the so called internet, phones, tablets have widely alleviated myriads of our problems; but have paved way for far more and severe issues. This powerful technology has crippled us and have typically bruised our identities. The more we connect virtually, the more we disconnect in real. Our lives are being shaped into cages, notwithstanding our total oblivion. We aren't unable to speak even a few lines while confronting a person with whom we'd text and chat for hours! The situation is so worse that if I wanna talk to anyone who is sitting beside me, it's highly probable that he is engulfed in talking to someone else virtually, and I get a cold or even no response. If I need to convey anything to him/her, I'd get faster response on a chatting app! You can get the proof anywhere anytime. While crossing roads, while being in a bus, while being in a group; you can easily find 4 out of every 5 persons' head tilted down and eyes glued to some illuminant screen. Something is seriously wrong, isn't it? Humanity is in the verge of extinction and robots are soon to replace them.
I agree the technology has done wonders and will keep doing so. All that is to be done is, we must not hand over the control from us to these pieces of objects. Efficient use is what is the need of the hour. Else our hearts will get narrower, minds broader, and bodies will just be bodies. Awaken. Listen to your soul. It wants to dance in the rain, talk endlessly, run in the ground, sing in the shower or as simple as talking to the person beside you. Do all that you love, love all that you do. Revive your lost interests. After all, plugging earphones is the only hobby left with 90% of the persons.

In the moments of rest, of silences; in which your first impulse is checking your cell phones; mull rather on your wishes. Just begin doing it. Let the cell phone be your need, not your desire. I might sound big, being small, but try this for "21 days" (the magic number which develops any new habit in any person). You'll feel utterly refreshed and literally free out of the bonds of these prisons and bring life into your lives.

P.S.: Do respond, if you find me right to the least.

Destiny: The Game Changer

BLOG #8

Life has a wonderful way of surprising us. Each time we feel that things are all in place, something drastic happens! A sudden change! A totally unexpected one. Might it be for the good, or bad; but would definitely affect you in the time that follows.

While you feel gloomy about something, there strikes some zeal engulfed incidences from nowhere and make you feel elated. Just the similar way, while everything seems to be absolutely fine and you have plans set for things to show up, life knocks you down and drives you upon the wall just to prove you absolutely wrong. The word 'destiny' or rather 'an invisible captain of the anchor of the ship of our lives' always leaves me dazed. A fraction of humans also address it as 'God'! This latent power keeps a watch on your way of things, of people, and evolves a way absolutely different and mocks at you! It is the most cunning power ever. The smartest and the wickedest at the same time!

So now, I've almost stopped anticipating things. 'Cause there are always huge contradictions! I better, just pursue the tasks and acts of living, sit on my sofa of brain as a spectator, let destiny play it's tricks and watch the resulting outcomes!
The clutch is not under your hands. Accept it. You can although guide the captain, but ultimately, the control is never yours!
Fascinating it is. You must also try it sometime. You'll feel less burdened for you'll have no worries about the results. But certainly the path to follow is your part of the game. And more or less, it's closely linked with the output. So play it well my friend; and be prepared, for the surprise packets that destiny has in store for you.

It will turn out eventually, that you are living absolutely worry less!
And I guess, this proves the relevance of this perception.

P.S.: Dear readers, I would love to know your views. :)
Do share if you like and agree.

Dealing with losses

BLOG #7

Loss: emotional, physical, economical, biological,,,,, the list is long. As many gains, as many losses. It is a natural phenomenon, that what is gained has to be lost, now or later. Nothing stays forever. Everything and everyone is transient.

But the question that arises is, while travelling our journeys, we stick to certain things, certain people, certain places, certain habits. So how to move on, when these are gone? All we are left with, are the memories. And more or less, agonies as well!  'Cause realisation of any loss is the cause of pain. I was struck with this thought in the movie 'The Fault In Our Stars'; it had a dialogue: 'Pain demands to be felt'. Woh! These words are ocean in a pot!

Yet life goes on. We have to live with smile on our faces and peace in our hearts. But how? So here my friend, lies the art. Art of how to stay calm even in all the times of opposing circumstances. Our smile ought not be fake, but the peace and content, must gleam in our eyes. This can be accomplished only by acceptance. Acceptance of the truth, no regrets; since what is over is over. You cannot retrieve the lost. You'll no doubt remember the lost, but don't let it accompany with it, the pain. Rather remember things positively. And work forward to attain larger goals, farther aims. 'Cause what's gone is gone. Weeping about it will only help you with more loss. No one has ever achieved a thing by keep moaning about the gone. Instead, learn from the past; all the previous experiences. Let them guide you, to lead a life with all new dimensions; irrespective of the past. Let your loss cause you gain; by becoming a guiding force rather than a crying force! Let it strengthen you. Let the darkness be followed by a bright dawn illuminating your path.

Friends, this is the only way out. Else, weeping is only going to steal your peace of mind during the times of rest & all your zeal during the times of work!

This was my take on 'loss'. If it helps you in any way, even minutely, then my writing the article will succeed. You may give your views and reviews in the comments below.

Keep reading and sharing good vibes :)

MY EMAIL ID: akansha.jain33@gmail.com