Fighting Fate

Friends,

Yesterday met an amazing person. She is an old school classmate of mine, our school topper. She is presently a doctor in Air Force and her husband who died a few days back was also a doctor. The husband was diagnosed with brain tumor in middle of 2002 with medical science giving him 7-8 months to live. He lived for seven and a half years. Listening to her about how they lived through these tough 7.5 years was a truly inspirational story. Both being doctors knew what was coming but tried to live as normally as possible. Despite the best possible medical care, the husband eventually got paralysed in the left part of the body. Still, his zest for life and living a 'normal' life continued. And his wife supported him by helping him in daily chores, making sure his self-respect, desire for privacy and dignity did not get hurt. Doctors and even family members sometimes treat terminally ill patients as if they are just vegetables and have no sentiments. This was an exceptional case where both the people being doctors, and brilliant ones at that, knew exactly what was happening and could see death staring in face, but refused to give up till the last. They tried to live as normally as possible making the husband live with dignity, the way he would have wanted till his last breath.
And the way his wife managed all this for years with the highest sense of duty, love and respect for him was awesome. How she controlled her own emotions and held the family together, fighting the disease, performing her role as a doctor and a mother is truly inspiring. God bless you Surekha.

India Australia Match

Today saw the India-Australia one day cricket match at Firoj Shah Kotla stadium, Delhi with my sons.
It was an extremely enjoyable day-night event and seeing the crowd reaction was total fun. That we won the
match was icing on the cake. People would go crazy with chants of 'Sa a chin, Sa a chin' whenever he would come near the boundary while fielding.

Tomorrow is the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon. I would be running with my sons in the Great Delhi Run, which is 6 km. I have put on some weight in the last 2 months, with virtually no exercise. Hopefully tomorrows race
will again open my body joints, and kick-start a routine of regular exercises.

Love.

Changing Weather

Hi friends,

The weather has started showing signs of changing. Delhi summer has started losing it's bite, and winter cold has started making noises. Was in Dehradun the last 3 days and it is even better here. Did not require even fan at night.

We are entering last 2 months of the year. Another year gone by. TIme to start taking stock of what was gained and what lost. Once Nov starts, the year will be over as Dec practically ends by 20th.

For me the year was quite eventful as I left Bharti after 10 long years. I learnt a lot during all these years and am thankful to God for giving me the opportunity to work with so many wonderful people. I got a lot of exposure in new areas. I was Head of HR, Quality, SW Dev., IT, Testing and Customer Support at points of time. Was heading 3 functions simultaneously at one time. But there is a time for everything. Our office shifted towards Manesar, and the 13 hours day became 15 hrs day. After a time it becomes taxing.
I am glad I took a decision to leave and explore the world. And am I happy? Am into multiple things these days and am the king of what I want to do. More about present assignments some other time. After hitting 44 years, I have started going down hill. So I am glad I have the flexibility of doing what I like to do, instead of being forced to like what I do.

Love,
Anuraag

Happy Diwali

Hi Friends,

Wishing Prosperity, Happiness, Health and Fun to you and your family members
on this Diwali.

Regards,

Anuraag, Meenakshi, Abhiram, Arindam

Toastmasters

Hi friends,

This tuesday I presented my 10th Project in the local Toastmasters Club, and have now become Competent Communicator. Weekly meetings with possibilities of speaking roles present in almost every meeting has helped polish not just my speaking skills, but also given me confidence as a trainer. No matter how good a trainer is, there are aspects of communication which one is not aware of or doesnt think they are important.
Here, apart from oral communication, I also get to work on my written communication as I am the VP (Public Relations) for my club. I am glad I joined here.

Festive season is upon us. Markets are decorated and crowded. Vehicles are crawling on the roads. Life seems to have stopped. But the cheer, vibrancy and color of the season are unmistakable. Festivals uplift the moods of people and raise the energy level of the environment.

Wish everyone happy Dhanteras (still 24 minutes left). And wish every one Happy Chhoti Diwali too!

The Power of Now

Started reading 'The Power of Now' by Eckhart Tolle. Also flipped thru 'God loves fun' by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Both talk about same thing. We are beyond our mind. When Descartes said - 'I think, therefore I am', he gave undue importance to mind. And generations got focussed on how we must control our mind, use it etc. Both Sri Sri and Eckhart talk about internal stillness. More about these in coming days.

Time and Tide

Friends,

Time and tide wait for no one. What was there yesterday is not here today. What is here today will not be there tomorrow. This is the eternal truth of life, and we need to learn and accept this to live peacefully. We live in the past. We believe things around us will still be same as they were when we were kids. Same old faces, hawkers, that paan shop, that old beggar, that amrood ka ped, that ice cream wala...

I remember that song - ye daulat bhi le lo, ye shohrat bhi le lo, bhale chheen lo mujhse meri jawani
magar mujhko lauta do bachpan ka sawan, wo kagaz ki kashti, wo barish ka pani, wo kagaz ki kashti...

Wow, what a song. But like I said, time and tide wait for no one. A dialogue by Rajesh Khanna (from a movie) : hasratein, chaahtein, ulfatein, raahtein - is duniya mein kuchh bhi rehta nahin. Aaj mein hun jahan, kal koi aur tha, ye bhi ek daur hai, wo bhi ek daur tha. Aap kya jane mujhko samajhta hain kya, mein to kuchh bhi nahi.

Mujhe itna pyar na do doston.Is kadar pyar itni badi bheed ka mein rakhunga kahan. Is kadar pyar rakhne ke kabil nahi - mera dil, meri jaan. Mujhe itna pyar mat do dosto, ki na kuchh bhi rahe mere kal ke liye. Kal? kal jo anjaan hai, kal jo sunsaan hai, kal jo veeraan hai. Mein? mein to kuchh bhi nahin.

Try to imagine Kaka ji saying the above dialogue in his super voice. Muah.
Chalo ji ninni. GN.