Today was 31st March . A day when when thousands of accountants rush to file IT returns for their clients. I happened to accompany my father for the same for the first time. It shook me when I realised the amount of money our government hoards every year in the name of taxes. (One website said, the governement had collected roughly 3 trillions worth of taxes as on Mar17 2009. And in case you are wondering, 3 trillion is 3,00,000 crore!!!) Millions of us pay back our hard earned money to the governemnt with the hope that we will eventually benefit out of it. The country will benefit out of it. We will be able to lead better lives, organised lives, developed lives. Not only us, but others will also get the benefit of the development the government hopefully will bring about with this collected money. In the middle of hundreds of people trying to file returns before the deadline, I felt lost. I felt amazed. 'Imagine the amount of money' was the only thought running my mind. Tons and tons of money!

Dad and I somehow managed to get the work done by 6.

I was now really late for my class. As usual. So in the hurry to reach the institue as soon as possible, the money thoughts simply slipped from my mind.

I soon got lost in the world of sign language, where speech was left behind and the magic of hands and expressions was woven to make a beautiful language. Soon we came to discuss the situation of deaf people in India. Our professor expalined to us, how for around 40 lakh deaf people in India, there were hardly 100 interpreters. We felt bad on hearing this, but frankly, we were neither surprised nor shocked. He explained how it gets extremely difficult to for a deaf person to undertake even a simple activity like travelling by rail or by a bus. To buy the tickets they have to write down destiantions as there is absolutely no awareness about sign language. But were the inconvenience limited to only this, one would even overlook it. But when they have to hear humiliating and hurtful statements like 'goonga hai kya? bol nahi sakta kya?', the situation almost becomes unbearable. He went on to explain that in countries like UK, USA and New Zealand, the govenrnment has made arrangements for disabled people, almost everywhere. At every railway station, there is a seperate counter for deaf people, where they can converse in sign language and buy tickets.They dont have to face any humiliation at their situation. Infact, they are shown respect and courage. In UK, there are around 2 lakh deaf people, and the number of sign language interpreters to helpthem is about 3000. Buses, public toilets, roads, railway stations.....everything and everyplace is equipped in a way to help each and every kind of citizen.

Wow! If those countires can do so many things for their disabled, Why is it difficult for India to even provide them with decent quality of education? 

The situation stumped me. The experience of the day stumped me. At one point, i see unimaginable amount of money being paid back to the government, with the hope that every citizen of the country benefit from it. And the very next hour, I see how hopeless the situation is for one section of the society. And this section is just a fraction of the entire population. And their problems represent only a fraction of the problems faced by others throughout the country.

It astounded me to realise how lakhs of people go hungry for days, without even a dry bread to eat when there is so much money being paid to the government for people's welfare. It is truly amazing!!

 

Will Smith does it again. The way he makes every character real and believable is truly unbelievable!

 

Seven Pounds is a story of how Tim Thomas gives himself up in order to repent for what was a unfortunate mistake in the past. Seven people die because of him. So he gives, or rather donates, his life to seven other people who need and deserve it. Truly touching and infact, a not-so-believable tale that would make anyone's heart cry out!

 

Long after the movie, i kept wondering- A person can have a kind heart. Many people do. And those very people also do make mistakes like anyone else. But do these kind hearts feel such immense guilt for such long time? Maybe they do. Maybe mine would also feel guilt for a long time (Well, not hinting at the kindness of my heart, but still...). If the repercussions of the mistake are unforgivable, maybe the guilt would hold on forever. And maybe one would take steps to make whatever amends possible. BUT, can any heart be so kind and so guilt ridden to give away one's entire self??? In parts?? And thus ultimately one's existence!?? I dont know whether my heart is such. And havent come across any as well. If such a heart exists, I would REALLY like to know the person living it. I dont know what I would do meeting a person like that. I dont know whether I would be in awe of that person. But i surely would be fascinated. And thankful to the kingdom of hearts for giving out such selfless ones on this truly amazing planet!

 

You've got to watch the movie to understand why I blabber so much about a kind heart. The movie taught me one lesson at least. I dont need to wait for a horrendous mistake on my part to become good to people around. Or to be good to myself! I just need to start right away!

She was at her usual time-pass place. One of her many favourites. She could sit there and read, listen to music, think, or do just nothing. And no one would come to bother her. For sometime atleast.

 

So this time too she went there, with no intentions of spending half her day there, but ended up doing just that. When she was happily busy, doing nothing and thinking about no thing in particular.. ouch...a red ant bit her! The adjacent tiled wall had a series of them to offer. Hundreds of military disciplined ants were seemingly on a walk down the wall. Fascinated, the girl kept looking at them. Amazing how they can go on and on without any apparent stoppage or obstacle. The girl had read somewhere that if you rub off the path that these ants take, they tend to run helter skelter, not knowing where to go. So the jobless girl set her mind to do just that. She rubbed a portion of the strictly followed path with a finger. But leh..this wouldnt have any magical effect on the behaviour of ants! Hmm..so a little rub of hand cannot deter the dedicated ants. So what. Let's try using water to rub off the smell that makes up the ants' path. and Lo..the ants do run helter skelter now!

The touch-and-go of ants continued elsewhere. But every ant took a u-turn at this wiped-off point. It was as if half of them were separated from the other half of the lot. A pit in between, with no bridge to go across! She assumed that now ants on both sides of the pit would live amongst themselves, not bothering to go across. After all, who would want to really take all the pains. Proving her wrong, a few teeny-meeny ones tried to re-make the path, but maybe lacked the determination or the motivation required. So the ants too were like her, wouldnt really bother too much if the work takes a little more than the usual effort. Dismissing them at this disappointment, she was about to leave her favourite place and get back to studies when she spotted one ant really desperate to go across. Why was this red ant so mad was not quite clear. Maybe he had someone dying on the other side of the pit. He tried to remake the path, but took a u-turn, like others. But unlike others, he didn't give up. He kept on, fighting with the other ants who were giving up, urging them to help him, trying to find new ways. After a long tedious five minutes (long because 5 minutes does seem like a long time in such situations involving almost microscopic insects..maybe!) he was finally able to go across. Wow! the girl was stunned. So the ants really were as hardworking as in those grandmother tales! But she was still intrigued and mystified by the reason the ant showed so much determination. Soon the motivation came to light. The hardworking he-ant went across and met another ant on the other side. And no, it wasnt the touch-and-go meets of the ant. They both lingered together for a longer time. The girl could hear whispered oohs and aahs from the rest of the ant audience. Oh, Love really conquered all!

 

Soon the entire military gang restarted their walking down the wall business. Doing only the ants know what!

 

Wow! There is so much to learn from ants! There are all different kinds of ants, like we have different kinds of people. The girl could spot most of the varieties- the leader ant who goes on to remake whatever dear and destroyed, no matter what obstacle; the joival ant who makes the most of what the wall has to offer, without making too much ado about anything;  the unconcerned ant who just follows the crowd; the mad ant who runs helter skelter even when the path is laid out, not sure where it wants to go; the happy ant; the sad ant; the wow lovers ants!...And many more of those ants!

 

Such sessions are really amazing experiences. They make you wonder-  Which ant are you?

 

P.S. The gender of the ants could be debatable. But hey, the girl has liberties to assume that much!?

This four letter word is something i have come to dread these days....

It is an emotion/feeling/thing that is so deadly/dangerous/exhilarating/kicking that it really makes life either miserable or completely blissful. It can devastate you or simply make your life.

When i see people hopeful...it scares me. Coz it reminds me of the many thousand hopes bubbling inside me. They are hopes of further happiness, hopes of further achievement, hopes of a better situation, hopes of a MAGICAL world! Maybe some of these are downright stupid and unwarranted. But all cant be. Some people live their entire life in hope and even die with it. Some people abandon hopes in the guise of 'practicality'. But one thing i have learnt is that Hope can help one survive. It can make the going easier. It can help the person in a bitter phase of life really cheer up and discover the postitives of life. It can make you realise that everything around you can turn out the way you want it to, only if you work enough towards it and you have faith in that effort.

But when that hope crashes, the misery it brings can be unbearable.

Maybe it is too drastic..but i have realised that:

If you ever Hhope-

1. abandon that Hope before it kills you

or

2. Work towards it in such a manner that your faith in your Hope never fades

 

Hoping to Hope again...Hoping to have the courage to Hope again!

What does life ask for..? Nothing much..but a small amount of dedication and a little bit of hardwork. Add a little common sense and positive attitude you have a great life in hand...

What does it take for me to understand this little piece of wisdom??? When i know from past experiences in life that i need a little more dedication in life...what is stopping me. Why can't i learn from my past mistakes?? am i that dumb??  or is it that i dont really give a shit how my life turns up..will i continue making the same mistakes over and over???

I really am going to change now....lets see how much i can do...if i cant get a little more dedicated...a little more serious...a little more mature..i dont really deserve a lot of things in life...

 

OATH of the day...taken for the lifetime..-WHATEVER you do...do it with utmost dedication and honesty...and if you then dont accomplish what you had set out to do..abandon it...coz then you will never be able to... 

Thats the lesson i have learnt now....