#18 Ending up blogging and leaving behind a few life lessons... :)

It has been a month since my laptop is not working; nor do I have enough money to mend it. I wait for my friends to sleep so that I could use any of their laptops. Even after getting a pc, I am unable to think what to write because I feel uncomfortable while writing on a laptop other than mine. I do not know what I am going to write in this blog. But I make sure I write something:

            It is a cool night pouring outside my building where I am living in a small rented room. Street dogs are still afraid of roaming the streets after the crackers-night, Diwali. The one person who is genuinely glad to see the dogs frightened is the old woman who uses to work as a servant of the building since the time unmemorable. I call her Akka, elder sister. She sleeps on the ground floor, near the main door. At night, you could see her barking on the dogs for waking her up from sleep. It seems that like human beings, dogs also love annoying others for no reason.

Anyway, my examinations are starting within a few days, so this may be my last blog of 2015. Meanwhile, you could read my new book titled ‘Superhuman in You,’ coming soon. I always try to write something that would help people to have a better life. While you read my book, you would come to know the truths that you know already. Books do not teach us anything. It just does the work of bringing the hidden knowledge, dwelling within us, to our conscious state. Experience is everything. Take risks, do mistakes, see failures, learn from it and move on in life.

Teachers, gurus, leaders and books can never teach us anything. They only do the work of bringing truth in front of us. Everything is lying within us; we just have to keep seeking the truths through the scriptures or teachers or whatever.

I have never felt myself as a writer. In fact, I feel I could never write a good fiction during my lifetime. It is because I am not interested in entertaining people. Comedy nights with Kapil could entertain more Indians than any book could ever do.

I think everyone is a born writer, even you. What you all need is to learn how to put down your thoughts on a blank paper. You do not want to be perfect for the things you love to do. Write something, write from anywhere to anywhere, even try to write rubbish. The discipline will prove worthwhile. Try to write things what other people do not know. Do not afraid to speak and always be honest. Do not shirk your responsibility towards reading. Make reading your addiction. The more you read the better you write.

            Another thing I learnt is that if you want to achieve something in life, you must have to do struggle. In everyone’s life a time would come when he starts doubting himself. Disappointments would make him cry. The body would suffer; emotions would tear him apart from his inner self. Life would become like a pendulum that oscillates between sorrows and failures, but, anyhow you have to survive it. Remember, the hard times will never come to stay, it will always come to pass.

            At last, I would say, try to do the things what others are not doing. Make a habit of doing something different. If you do what others are doing, then you would end up living a life what else are living. 

            A poem from Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore inspires me to go for the things I love. He wrote this poem in the regret for living a life half-filled.  

The song that I came to sing remains unsung to this day.

I have spent my days in stringing and unstringing my instrument.

The time has not come true, the words have not been rightly set;

Only there is the agony of wishing in my heart.

The blossom has not opened; only the wind is sighing by....

... I live in the hope of meeting with him; but this meeting is not yet.

Commentary by Sudhir Krishnan

Each one of us has a purpose in our life that we have come to fulfil. That purpose is the song in our heart that we have come here to sing. We spend so much time trying to understand what it is. Yet like the bud, many of us have to open up to it yet.

Blessed are those whose inner light has been lit. For they are truly singing the song they came here to sing.

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#17 Holy Books and Religion - My Personal Point of View

What we think depends upon the thoughts of five people who surround us most of the time. I surround myself with books. Our mind not only read the stories written in books but also experiences it. Read the biography of Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, Swami Vivekananda and other spiritual giants and leaders, and you could confront with the truths of life, making you an experienced player of the life in a very short span.

It was only the books of Khushwant Singh which propelled me to read Holy Bible. He had always suggested his readers to read Old Testament of Holy Bible in order to write well. Though, I have never read complete Holy Bible, Holy Quran and Guru Granth Sahib, but these books helped me to realise the supreme energy surrounding us. Scientists call it as magnetic field energy and people like me pray it as ‘The God’. Science is a product of being made, still searching the truths and trying to solve the infinity with its reasoning and facts. So for me, the God is truth.

I believe religion had never brought conflicts in the country. It is human beings who have made up this beautiful earth a hell. Religion is the journey of realizing the Superhuman dwelling within us. Religion is one and the rest of holy books which created new religion are just its aspects and nothing more than that. Christ, Guru Nanak and other messengers were also made up of flash and bones. They died too. They were not God. They all were Superhumans. I have not read anywhere Jesus ordering his people to kill Jews and Mohammad to kill Christians. They all came to spread brotherhood and love, with only one religion ‘God’.

Religion is classified into ceremonials and spirituality. Ceremonials: Pundits memorize mantras to earn their living. Some of them do not even know the perfect meaning of the mantras. They are not spiritually built, so most of them fight for their respective religion. On the other hand spiritual education is the highest of all the education. It is the education of realizing self. Lord Buddha had always said, ‘The real victory of a human being is when he conquers himself.’ But, unfortunately, we are busy in conquering each other.

Holy books have always inspired me to get more out of life. I do not remember when I last visited any temple or church, but still, I believe in God. Where is the need to find Him? He is everywhere; feel Him. We are just different tides formed by that supreme ocean and settled back into the ocean again. Make love your religion. Respect your words, keep promises, help others, spread positive messages… The earth is not as worse as my elders have taught me. It is a beautiful place to live in.

For me, my religion is my gift, love for books.     

'Superhuman In You' written by Nakul Grover is coming soon on online stores... ;)

#16 Why I do Reading and Writing? — My Secret

I was in class 12^th when I picked up 2 states by Chetan Bhagat. It took me around 20 days to read it. People often speak unfair about his writing style which I will never agree. Truly, he is the Shakespeare for the people like me. If I would have read Paulo Coelho or Jeffery Archer at that time, I would have never thought of writing anything. The second book, I read was what happens to good people when bad things happen by Robert A. Schuller. I read it thrice and still I read some chapters from it in order to feel better. Above all, I read writings on love, sex and women by Khushwant Singh and the night train at deoli and other stories by Ruskin Bond more than ten times.

            Today, I could see more than 100 e-books in my Kindle, and more than 50 paperbacks lying around me. I have lost incalculable number of books too. Once, I have recorded my reading speed. I found I read 2 books a week. And according to one survey, an average Indian reads one book a year. Even to cut a few number of trees, you need to sharp your axe. To write well, first you need to learn how to read well.  

            I was not a book lover nor had I born with some supernatural talents or whatever. In fact, my writing was ridiculous. But, I think we all are born to do something. There is something lying within us which requires to be manifested. I worked on my writing skills for continues 2 years on an average rate of 6-7 hours a day (it includes reading too). Now, writing a blog or any article is an easy task for me. A writer’s biggest challenge is how to fill a blank page. What you write, a junk or a masterpiece, will never matter, but you must write something in order to nurture your writing.

            You can read my blogs as my autobiography because I do not have any other things to share. Though, as people say, I have an old writing style, but I always try my best to help people through my articles. If my blogs help even one person I feel my purpose of writing is fulfilled.

Knowledge has always been my first desire, second writing, and at last, to share my knowledge with the others. Greatest of knowledge is the knowledge of self. You could find this knowledge in your own book. Reading books help me to find my better self. It is true that we do not know about our self. Rather than improving others, it is better to improve our-self first.   

 Every month, I spend half of my pocket money in purchasing books because, as I always say, investing in mind is far better than investing in banks. Aimless life is a helpless life. Without aims and goals, all holidays are boring. And honestly, from last few years, I’ve not experienced boredom. 

 ‘Age can never tell how mature you are and grades can never tell how intelligent you are,’ I recall what I read. Earning a living and how to live is entirely different. I do not have much achievement to share, but with an equally apt quote from wings of fire by A.P.J Abdul Kalam I want to share you what I’ve never lost:

“Let not thy winged days be spent in vain. When once gone no gold can buy them back again.”

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#15 Feeling ashamed of being youth! Please stop all this non-sense.

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#14 Expand Your Vocabulary in Just One Step...

For those who had messaged and called me only to know how to learn new words.

Hope, this blog may help you.

Few years ago, I fetched a diary from the market and wrote hundreds of new words to upgrade my vocabulary. Unfortunately, after a few days, the pages of my journal were used in wrapping paronthas for my lunch box. I got disappointed, but the taste of maa de haath da bana hoya parontha, te aus de utte desi ghee comforted me. After that, I have never penned new words to learn, but started discovering new ways to update my dictionary.

After a few weeks or so, I found learning all the words are impossible. The Second Edition of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 1,71,476 words current in use, and 47,156 obsolete words.

‘Abey Bhadwe!  Dara mat… competition ki taiyari kar rha hun!  (You bloody Pimp! Don’t make me afraid. I am preparing for competition.),’ is what you may be thinking right now. Do not worry, I have found an easier way that helped me to learn hundred new words in a short span and I often use those words in writing stories and articles. I am not a man of letters nor an English teacher nor an English graduate, but let me help you because experience counts.

 Penning new words on a page and memorizing it is wastage of time. So I found a new method and named it, ‘Replace Old from New.’ What does it mean? It means replace the words that you often use with the new words.

For example: She bought a new phone. The word ‘new’ is quiet old. Replace it with ‘latest’ or ‘recent’.

 Another example is my previous sentence, “Replace it with ‘latest’ or ‘recent’.” You can use ‘swap’ instead of ‘replace’.

Swap all your old words with new words and use it in your conversation or writing. Listed below, a few common words that you may start with:

Decorate - Embellish

Sad – Gloomy

Wear – Clad

Work hard- Sweat

Fight – Scuffle

New – Latest, recent

Replace – Swap

Bring – Fetch

Lot of – Plethora

Lack – Dearth

Take – Seek

Want – Wish, Crave

Rich – Affluent

Not agree – Deny, Decline, Negate

Face – Confront, Encounter

Permission – Nod       

Show – Exhibit, Displayed

Many – Myriad

Repair – Mend

Rise – Escalate, Hike

Confuse, Frustrate – Baffle

Hungry – Famish

Thousand steps of journey starts with single step. And after taking first step, thousand steps of journey will not remain thousand. Serve yourself with new words in breakfast and eat it. Everyday, learn three words. At the end of month, you will have approximate 100 new words to use.

Often, teachers recommend, Word-power made easy by Norman Lewis, to students. I will try it for sure.

I would say Non-Sense verses by Edward Lear is helpful as well as entertaining to learn plethora of new words.

Till then read my previous blog — A kiss day with a sad song: http://grovernakul29.blogspot.com/2015/10/a-kiss-day-with-sad-song.html — to know the words I often use.   

Happy Reading :) :) :) 

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#13 A Kiss Day with A Sad Song

There was a time when I got up around 5 in the morning and sat down to research on the writings of Ruskin Bond and Khushwant Singh. I think I read — the night train at Deoli and other stories by Ruskin Bond and selected writings of Khushwant Singh on women, sex and love — more than ten times. Every time I went through the pages of these books, my eyes welled up with tears. Honestly, it was not the stories who made me cry, but it was their old writing style and a skill to put humor in the stories, which I failed to find in modern writers.

I too tried to write something creative, but plotting a story for novel is always been a failure at my part. So I prefer to write short stories about people I have known. I also write self-help articles as it is all about knowledge and a little about character, incidents and plotting. A weakness, I know. Another weakness, my stories are often like an old sad song— sometimes great, sometimes disastrous and quiet boring.   

            Anyway, nowadays, I wake up around 9 in the morning, rebuking and scolding my roommate in my bold desi accent for snorting whole night. A little dizzy, I would hobble to a tea shop outside my house and drink couple of tea cups, followed by kachori and samosa. People generally fail to notice anything good about me, but they always praise me for not smoking cigarette. I feel proud that belching clouds of smoke is not my cup of tea.

            As I sat down on a wooden bench, dipping biscuit in the cup of tea, I saw a woman, standing wayside the road, waiting patiently for someone. Soon a little boy draped in school uniform arrived behind her and held palu of her saaree. She turned around and grinned. No sooner the boy passed a lovely-smile; she took him in her lap and gratefully kissed him. After a minute or so, a shuddering auto-rickshaw laden by school children halted. The little boy climbed down from the woman’s lap and climbed up in the auto. As the children bade by to her, pain of separation and sadness passed across her face. Soon she disappeared in her house and a kiss day with a sad song begun.

            I ate two chapatties with egg curry in lunch cooked by my roommate, Rajish. Rajish was a scholar and recluse. He knew nothing other than sleeping, eating and studying. That might be a reason for me to take room with him. I like people who do not poke their nose in others’ life.

He came and sat down beside me, slurping a bowl full of curry. He passed a curvy smile at me, followed by few more slurping sound— the sound resembled like a couple passionately kissing each other.

All of sudden, the bowl fell over him and the whole curry smeared his clothes. He grumbled under his breath and then threw his lunch emphatically, cursing his fortune. The food strewed on the floor, mucking up the walls. Soon he cleaned everything and took his books to study, sadness remained stuck his face.

It was the time during the nightfall I took a long stroll to get some fresh air. I do it quiet often. I found nature better than my books. No doubt, books help me to live a good life but I have to accept nature gives me a good life. It was just after moving to my new room, I became an ardent lover of nature. The austere and obscure hills of Chennai were enough to enlighten my love for nature. Beauty of Bougainvillea trees is the other reason for my fondness towards nature.

As I passed by the lake, near my University, I noticed a young couple sitting in the dark, snuggling and kissing each other. The boy laid his hand in her waist and pulled her towards him, and then a long-slow kiss followed. Instead of lust kiss, it was a love kiss. She pushed his hand mildly and unlocked her lips to peck his ears, nose and neck. His hands rhythmically smoothened and caressed her contours of her body. She held his hands and independent herself from his arms in a lovely way. No sooner he tried again to kiss her, they observed me standing there. Embarrassed, they maintained a gap between themselves. Their faces, all of sudden, consumed with fear.

I wanted to reach them, to reassure them, everything is fine. No need to feel embarrassment. It was their moment, and never going to come back; live it. Full of fear, they stood up and left the place hurriedly. I felt sorry for them and made my way to back to my house.

I was disappointed with myself. It was better if I would have left the place, instead of gazing them. I had never wanted this to happen. As soon as I reached my house, sonorous sound of namaz from a masjid, at a distance, could be heard. I climbed up to my room, took out my mouth organ, and climbed the rooftop. I had never missed hearing last namaz from past one year. Prayers have always made me more positive and hopeful.

Often, I used to sit on the boundary of roof and play mouth organ, coping up with the hymns from masjid. After that I would settle myself on a chair and meditate on the trees, singing Urdu poetry in the cool evening breeze. A large tree with its small branches lured me more than any other tree surrounding my house.

The moon girt with myriads of stars shimmer above me. I felt the wind, trees, my God, gently, fervently kissing and loving me. I felt goose pimples arising over my body with a few sensations in my hands and legs. I do not know when I slept off in the lap of beautiful earth.

A little drizzling failed to wake me up. You can never predict the rainfall in South India. Sometimes it comes with a loud thunder and sometimes, it pours like a thief tiptoeing in the house. As the heavy rain tore my sleep with a loud rumble, I got up and till I climbed down my roof, I was entirely drenched and saddened.

Disheartened, I recalled an old-fashioned verse from a book of Ruskin Bond:

The pure, the bright, the beautiful,

That stirred our hearts in youth,

The impulse to a wordless prayer,

The dreams of love and truth;

The longings after something lost,

The spirit’s yearning cry,

The striving after better hopes…

Those things can never die.

                    

                                                

#12 How I am spending my vacations...

As the festival vacations have begun, half of the students have departed for their respective hometowns. The remaining half is using their time in sleeping, smoking and drinking. A few among them discovering new places to roam and a few are loitering to discover new places. Whereas I am spending my time with the same old friends and same old books of same old authors.

Though I got all the volumes of Swami Vivekananda to read, but it is quiet boring and full of knowledge, getting tough for my mind to digest. These volumes are now working as sleeping pills for me. I think it will take almost a year to go thoroughly from these volumes. 

I read these volumes all day long and when I get tired, I slap it down and read fiction to entertain myself. I try my best to avoid the outside world. I do not have friends who lament all day long for their career and future. Obviously, I do not want to kill my present thinking about my uncertain future. Whenever I step into outside world, I find competition, envy, anger, fear, fuming and fretting among people. These days a few new words — startup, entrepreneurs, CEO— are popular in the world around me. I mere think about these struggling areas. I found stories of Ruskin Bond and Khushwant Singh far better than the stories of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and so on.

 For me struggle is nothing more than losing patience. “Do not push the things. If it meant to happen it will happen,” a quote I recalled I read somewhere. I do not write to become rich or popular. In fact, I write once a week or two. I love reading books and that is what I do whole day long.

I too have dreams. My dreams are not that complex as compare to dreams of people around me. I do not want luxurious cars or fancy bikes or palatial apartments. I write because I want freedom. When I write I can feel my soul attaining infinite happiness. Most people have forgotten doing the things what they love. But in my case, I’ve forgotten everything in doing what I love. A brief poem of R.L. Stevenson is apt to explain what I am dreaming now:

Give to me the life I love

Let the lave go by me,

Give the jolly heaven above

And the byway nigh me.

Bed in the bush with stars to see,

Bread I dip in the river-

There’s the life for a man like me,

There’s the life forever