“We are born to inquire into truth; it belongs to a greater to possess it”

It's knowing you're?
somebody special? today
And waiting to see
what the hours bring your way,
Forgetting the things
that you don't like to do
And doing the things
that seem pleasant to you?
It's enjoying those
marvellous little surprises
That come from all over,
in all shapes and sizes -
a phone call or letter
that brings you delight,
warm wishes and greetings
from morning till night -
It's making a wish
as you blow candles out
And having so much
to be happy about
That you can't help but dream,
as the hours slip away,
Of many more happy
returns of the day.
~Emily Mathews
Happy Birthday To You...My Dear Friend :)

“Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity.”

It was long weekend…and I also had a chance to look at nature closely.!
A life close to land and sea and the significance of We!
We went to the Monterey beach where one can see the actual meet of land and sea :D I have always heard of this imaginary point where land and sea meets in poems and prose’s!

At daybreak, on the bleak sea-beach,
A fisherman stood aghast,

To see the form of a maiden fair,

Lashed close to a drifting mast

It was amazing…often when I look at nature here in California. I always, get the true sense of God being the best creative person…and looking at that we as human’s imagination and creative thinking in paintings and poetries that we try to imitate him!
Across the lonely beach we flit,

One little sandpiper and I;

And fast I gather, bit by bit,

The scattered driftwood,

bleached and dry.

The wild waves reach their hands for it,

The wild wind raves, the tide runs high,

As up and down the beach we flit—

One little sandpiper and I.

I had a cool trail walk and then we went along the seashore where we saw the sea lions and other birds at the fisherman’s wharf…it was a union of nature and its creature where we as human were also inclusive: D

“Love is union with somebody, or something, outside oneself, under the condition of retaining the separateness and integrity of one's own self.” ~ Enrich Fromm

Some of the pictures will just speak more precisely as what I mean to say about after all that…trip! I had the chance to play volleyball and badminton after a long time I would say! But it was a worth break from the usual routine of life!

I was quite surprised when I saw a tamed monkey was around there...when I went near it was holding my hand so tightly and slowly gently it took my fingers to grab into its mouth when I just rushed out pulling my hand...gosh!!!! I could only wonder how smoothly and quitely it made me fall for him ...lol
“The obvious mathematical breakthrough would be development of an easy way to factor large prime numbers” ~ Bill Gates
I am planning to have more activities ;)

“Creative activity could be described as a type of learning process where teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.”

“Each person is a hero and an oracle to somebody”

Its memorial day and hence a long weekend..! People are all excited and some of them are on vacation since yesterday!!! I some times wonder if anyone really bothers about the significance of these holidays? Life has become so busy and tiring that everyone wants to get away with life and relax and have good time of relaxation!!!

“The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.”

I also feel the same…life sometimes takes so many twists and turns and you don’t even realize how fast you took the roller costar ride from one to the other you are just hopping without realizing and suddenly these holidays come after where one tries to give a pause to think…what did I miss?

“Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!”

Today at work when everyone was discussing there plans for the long weekend…this lady was saying she is going to come to work on the weekend..! I was wondering why would one come specially on a long weekend ??!!!

“Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do”

When others were discussing about there kids and how they want to take them to different places…she was happily discussing about her lonesome moment…that she enjoys it!!!

“The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to”

Being a busy day for me…this thought kept lingering in my mind….is lonesome that convincingly happy?

“A city is a large community where people are lonesome together.”

What could be the reason that she loves to be lonely as she seems to have seen different pages of life and am sure there is something hidden in those pages…!

“The heart has reasons that reason does not understand.”

My thoughts went on keeping her in my mind….!

“April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom, holiday tables under the trees.”

“If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?”

We have a new consultant who has just arrived from India…it’s been a week now! His boss saying, I have a new neighbour introduced me to him.
That day I didn’t had time to talk to him much..it was very formal talk that we had and I welcomed him aboard.

“The longest journey a man must take is the eighteen inches from his head to his heart”

However, next day he became so friendly that he started asking me if I want to go for a coffee and during or after lunch he will check if I did had my lunch..etc!! We started calling eachother for company for coffee at least..! I could see he is very excited that he has come out of India for the first time to US… and that too straight to California. He feels very proud that his other colleagues didn’t get an opportunity.

“Get excited and enthusiastic about your own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire - you can smell it, taste it, and see it from a mile away”

He keeps sharing things about Indian politics and other US information that he had no idea about. I thought it’s a good start for him to mingle as he wont be homesick!!! Also, he says…he doesn’t want to work for anyone but start his own business in US!

“Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals” ~ Buddha

Yesterday was just like any other morning except that it was Monday Morning…and I had a lot of things to be re-planned just because some people can be happy and I tried to make them :D

I thought to call my neighbor buddy for a coffee…and we both walked to our Pantry section where we have nice coffee from Starbucks..! Yes, that’s kind in disguise I would say, which allowed me to slowly forget about my fav. Tim Horton’s Coffee: D

“Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness” ~ Napoleon Hill

Anyway, we got our coffee’s..had a little chat and then I said have fun and we went to our own cubicles to finish off our task..!

Around 15 minutes later I heard him calling me…saying I spilled my coffee on my desk…whom should I call to clean this mess?
Hahahahah I was totally zapped…! I said..with a surprise…what did you said? I was not sure if I heard him correct…!
He came to my desk with a lazy attitude…saying – I have spilled the coffee on my desk ..now whom should I call to clean this up – office cleaning or is it facilities…!

“If your house is really a mess and a stranger comes to the door greet him with, "Who could have done this? We have no enemies”

I was shocked and was wondering when was the last that I heard something like this?????

I gave him a smile and said go to the pantry take some tissue paper and wipe it off! That’s what we do here :D

Our cubicles are such that we have privacy however one can even hear the other person if they are whispering…so you can imagine later on the queue of people asking me – ‘What was that guy saying about cleaning his mess?’

It was a fun but I am glad he learnt his first lesson of cleaning our own mess :D

“Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean”

May our heart's garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers

Today, I am going to talk about my some of the experience being a traveler…:) India, Canada UK, South Korea and US!

One thing is for sure I often wonder people who traveled long back in 1800’s would have had so much trouble in explaining where they are coming from and whats the speciality about there country and culture.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream"

When I came to Canada, people were surprised that we could speak English…I had a good laugh that time…but as I was living and meeting different people…I realize people’s awareness is so less and more over the people don’t have the zeal to know about other places or people.

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change ~ Buddha
They are happy with there own likings such as there fast food there video game etc …however I have met few of the ambitious people who did know so much about the world and it amazed me many times as they talk so many things not only about the current affairs or culture but they do discuss the spices and the use of it…!

“Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience"

So I would say people coming from all over the world had a innovative way of knowing people not through books or literature but through people themselves.
I feel so loyal and patriotic to Canada when I think of the way people have treated me and the way I have got the respect and the rights.

I realise that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone

All this made me think that when I am in US (more or less North – America is known for US & Canada), I don’t have to explain people a lot as its not about another country…but I feel so sad that people need to be educated about Canada J

“We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn” ~ Henry David Thoreau

The importance of education is one thing but the awareness part is such a big thing that without that I think a person is blind!!

“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page"

My dream is to travel the whole world and learn everything about each corner of this world…:)

Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness ~ James Thurber

“Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.”

The purpose of life is a life of purpose. ~Robert Byrne
This picture I had taken when I visited this Persian Restaurant....I just loved this picture and the ambinece overall..! Food was awesome and not to mention the drink which was more or less lemon juice with cucumber grated in it...yes it sounds weird but when you drink it ...it really makes you feel fresh from your soul :)
I remember...after I ordered this drink....couple other tables were also served and we all looked at eachother with a smile :D
“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live”

“If a thing isn't worth saying, you sing it.”

Its so rare that sometimes you just want to kill time watching something that is not much of headache and you end up with something new experience altogether!!!!

My love towards Urdu and Lukhnow and its culture has always attracted which relates to them and hence I bought this movie DVD ‘Mein Meri Pati aur Wohh’ (Me, My Wife and Him)…the movie is quite a middle class family story…with some kind of humor and very much near to life…but the lyrics and the songs relating to one’s emotions, nature is just awesome!!!
“A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

I am sorry to mention this song in roman hindi …but believe me the way Mohit Chauhan the singer he has really put his heart in it…am just touched by his voice…I have heard many of his numbers but this one just hit me :) {guncha - blossoming flower, saki - friend, jaam - drink, liquor etc..}

"Guncha koi mere naam kar diya.....

Saki ne phir se mera jaam bhar diya...

Tum jaisa koi nahi is jahaan mein

Subah ko teri zulf ne shaam kar diya

Mehfil mein baar baar idhar dekha kiye

aankhon ke zazeeron ko mere naam kar diya

Hosh bekhabar se huye unke bagair

Woh jo humse keh na sake dil ne kah diya

Guncha koi mere naam kar diya.....

Saki ne phir se mera jaam bhar diya... "

“When a singer truly feels and experiences what the music is all about, the words will automatically ring true.”

Also, I like to give the credit to the lyrics writer too…Rocky Khanna…
An awesomely done movie with slight humor and fun!!!

“Music is the purest form of art... therefore true poets, they who are seers, seek to express the universe in terms of music... The singer has everything within him. The notes come out from his very life. They are not materials gathered from outside.” ~ Rabindranath Tagore

Dedicated to my Friend Manish :D.....I have added this song in to my radioblog ;)

“Dedication is not what others expect of you, it is what you can give to others.”

"No gift to your mother can ever equal her gift to you - life"

My best wishes to the entire mother’s in the world…

Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together. ~Pearl S. Buck

Happy Mother’s Day…. Moms

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.
~George Cooper

"He who is brave is free"

The other day I had this opportunity to watch this movie ‘Lion Of The Desert – Omar Mukhtar’ such an awesome movie…and hats off to Anthony Quinn for his performance…goes without saying..!
I had seen his another movie ‘The Message’ so prefect he plays the role…that I had this notion of he is a Muslim :), I am not trying to bring religion here but want to express how much he involves himself with the character that he is playing.

“Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

When I heard about the name of the movie ‘Lion of the desert’, I was not sure about anything…what and how they try to protect Libya from the Imperialism of Mussolini and the Italian army.

“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.” ~ Hellen Keller

But when I saw the movie…I was amazed…and started thinking in reality how Omar Mukhtar must have dedicated himself for the country…that too in a desert where nothing is certain…he was so sharp and was able to succeed for almost 20 years and rest everyone knows!!!

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” ~ Billy Graham

This movie keeps coming to my mind now and often…as I was not only attracted with the place and the people but also the culture and the unity. I was thinking how women in those times were prepared for anything and everything…but they sent there men with pride for such a battle where the only goal was to protect the county without any ammunition help or advanced techniques that they could use.
It was all Omar Mukhtar’s mind and his alert mind…amazing planning…I really learnt some of the tact’s as how to distract the enemy and how to make attack…wow…I guess these techniques that I have seen or heard is in Defense to army …and Omar Mukhtar had this in him those days of 1920-30’s, without getting any professional training or help…bravo!!!

“Be on the alert, like the red ant that moves with its claws wide open.”

I salute those women, men and children…that’s the sad part I found…but I got amazed and touched by the little boy Ali …!

“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.” ~ MK Gandhi

The same thing happened today that happened yesterday, only to different people

Yesterday was an awesome evening…! I had planned this weekend to visit the concert of Jagjit Singh…! It was in Oakland city a 40 minutes ride…but I made sure to attend and cherish some of my 2004’s memories when I was attending his concert in Mumbai.

“A live concert to me is exciting because of all the electricity that is generated in the crowd and on stage. It's my favorite part of the business, live concerts.” ~ Elvis Presley

As usual this was a new experience for me as far as the place was concerned…I wanted to analyze the crowd as well. Usually, the ghazal crowd is more of elite I feel…where people have patience to listen to the ghazals and the shers (couplets), that one says and the intellect of understanding it…and to my surprise the crowd was a bit divided.

“In reading, a lonely quiet concert is given to our minds; all our mental faculties will be present in this symphonic exaltation.”

There were people who were sitting on the first row and were just mere there for the sake of show-off. Infact from there one of the guy started troubling Jagjit by telling him ‘Mukarar’ (once more), when in between the singing Jagu was challenging his musicians to play ‘jugalbandi’ (a kind of competitive music that they instrumentalist’s play which really test there talents as well)!

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

There was a brief…conversation however Jagu was on mic and he said to the guy that he is not the only audience and hence he has to be patient. Also, when you say ‘Mukarar’ meaning I will be only singing one ghazal hahaha it was a hilarious sarcasm that Jagu created and told him he can get refund back for his ticket ‘If he has purchased one’!
It was an embarrassment for that guy as the whole crowd was clapping to Jagu’s reaction.

“When an argument flares up, the wise man quenches it with silence”

Anyway, what best I like about Jagu is, (no doubt his voice has always mesmerized me and even today I get Goosebumps the moment I hear his ghazals), that he not only gives opportunity in his shows to his musicians but also makes the crowd involve and sing with him. Yes, guys yesterday the program started at 8:00 p.m. and ended up at 12:00 a.m. Though the venue was more or less a sports stadium hence the sound system was not that effective. I missed the 'Royal Thompson Hall' in Toronto....the architecture is something...amazing which basically was created keeping music in mind! I remember how Jagjit had mentioned this aspect before starting his ghazal in Toronto :D!

"There's someone in my head but it's not me".

During that time period he sung almost 25 ghazals along with Punjabi folk songs. Some of the ghazals he made all of us to sing and it was quite interesting as I always liked the interactive crowd whether it’s a concert, meeting or presentation…I think that’s how a presenter can feel the veins of his audience.

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well”

In all…it was an awesome evening, a memorable one for me…as each time I see him …I feel he is getting more and more young with his voice and himself. I did say that he is looking younger than last time :D

“When you have confidence, you can have a lot of fun. And when you have fun, you can do amazing things.”

Jagjit was honored by the Mayor of Oakland city, a certificate that declared May 6th as “Jagjit Singh Day” :D

I have added all those ghazals (trying to as am rushing out too ;) ),that he sung during the concert except the Punjabi ones.

“To stop the flow of music would be like the stopping of time itself, incredible and inconceivable.”

I loved the concert ended with the song – ‘Balle balle ni kudiye punjaban ki’ and I remembered how I had a folk dance competition in school on this same song…! Oh gosh…I can never leave behind my child hood memories..!

“Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.”

An awesome evening which I had and will always crave to have :D

“It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.” ~ Leo N Tolstoy

“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.”

Okay guys, I have been tagged again…and this time its none other than my buddy bombayite :D

“People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history"

The rule of thumb goes like this….Once you are tagged you MUST write a blog entry about your 10 weird things and/or habits. And….:D in the end you need to choose 6 people to be tagged…lol!

“Where's your will to be weird?"

Ø I always try to get the window seat in bus, rickshaw, train, plane BUT not on Cycle :D…lol
Ø I have this habit of cleaning the place even though according to others its cleaned.
Ø I never give any money to beggars as I think by giving them I am making them one…hence I always share chocolates and few have them dislike me for that :D
Ø I always express my joy whenever I am listening to Jagu and sometimes I don’t realize that another car passing by, people look at me and give me a smile or wave at me and rock like me ;)
Ø I mostly wear blue…even sometimes I think its too much of blue still I end up with one or the other shades of blue :D
Ø I love to go to theaters to watch movie but am not a great fan of popcorn and carbonated drinks…a coffee would replace all :D
Ø I have this weird habit of cleanliness and I try my best to keep everything clean even my email box and if I don’t I get restless…!
Ø I have this weird thing of speaking fast with and cut-short conversation assuming the other side would understand my quick code language…and I end up the whole recitation :D
Ø I have this weird habit of saying ‘Thank U’ too many times…don’t know but it keeps going and people love that ;)
Ø Last but not least…my weirdness of responding promptly has made me very famous @ work, they say I don’t fear to talk to ppl…lol!!!

“Its not so much what you have to learn if you aceept weird theories, its what you have to unlearn"

Six people that I would tag are:

Manish, Gumnaaaam, MS, Nagu, Sujit, Keshi,

Other's are welcome to join if they dont mind being weird ;)

"Serve the dinner backward, do anything - but for goodness sake do something weird"

“Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.”

“We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.” ~ Orson Welles