Freedom

Every living being in the universe loves being FREE.

It’s their right to enjoy, to be & remain in the complete state of FREEDOM.

But, what this #freedom actually is?

Celebrating the Independence Day today, is historically significant, as getting free from the clutches of British Empire, being enslaved for 200 years & more.

Yes of course, a big win that was, and that surely is.

We all have grown up reading through the pages in History about the struggle, the courage, the sacrifice & the resilience which was shown by our country-men during these two centuries.

Just close your eyes & imagine being a part of those times, step into the lives and we shall have spine chilling experience arousing all sorts of extreme emotions of anger, fear & despair within us.

And we shall know, and may can understand, what BEING FREE actually means?

We wanted to be free, because someone from outside, who was not from amongst us, entered our house and became dictator of our lives.

They came, they entered and they soon could spot and identify the vulnerabilities, we as an individual and as a family exposed.
They were learned, smart, shrewd and thus could easily play on our weaknesses, exploit us and ruled us for two centuries.

As a big mass of people, even in those times, we were easy prey to their cunning tactics.

Over the years, from time to time, our country gave birth to leaders, who within their domain of action & influence, tried to put up a fight.

But, many of these were skirmishes which were put off every time it raised heads. And ironically, every time the mutiny like situation was raised, it died it’s death by the weaknesses of their own people.

It doesn’t mean that it failed to create an impact. It surely did.

But it needed back to back collective efforts & sacrifices for 200 years to arrive at the complete freedom from physical bondage.

Why a whole of two centuries?

Why the struggle for freedom went on for such a long time?

It’s because every time a wave was about to be formed to rise to the crest, it was broken down and divided into small in-effective small thrusts, resulting into reduced significance.

This happened, because we were available to be divided, to be influenced.

This is a part of the History we know of.

Without a pinch of doubt, it gives us immense pride to read and know this long journey of struggle for freedom.

It does raise our heads in high esteem to know about the leaders which our country was blessed with in those times, who tried with unified efforts, without caring enough about their own lives.

But, 

• Have we proved ourselves as worthy successors to our predecessors?
• Did they actually envision, hope, desire, dream and wish for the India that we are living in today?
• Are we doing enough to claim rightful eligibility of being called as the citizen of this great Nation?
• Are we not still vulnerable to all types of external influences & self-weaknesses and easily get broken into pieces in the name of caste, creed, colour & religion?

Friends,

It’s time to question the credibility of the role that we are playing.

• Speaking honestly, Are we convinced enough about our roles, our actions towards anything & everything?
• Isn’t it that we are pampering ourselves on every wrong foot we put and somehow come up with intellectual excuses and keep giving benefit of doubt to ourselves for not able to justify the result?
• Aren’t we alwayz ready to jump into blame game and conveniently shift the responsibility onto the others and smartly distancing ourselves out of the criticality?

We are still the same people, of the times when they used to be guided like a flock of herd. With little education at their disposal, most of them relied on other’s brain to run their lives. Disappointingly, we still do the same.

We fear to get up and question.

We fear to take responsibility.

We fear to lead.

And thus we always have, and always had less of the leaders and more of the mass of followers flocking like herd.

We need #leaders in every family, every home.

Unless we are ready to face the challenges head on,

Unless we get up to be a change to bring about one,

Unless we start using our own brains, our own intellect, common sense and conscience,
we are still vulnerable to the forces who are ready to pounce on us for their benefits.

We need to know and understand our own paths, and most importantly knowing where are we heading towards?

And once we start thinking in this direction, we can say that we have begun our struggle for freedom.

The struggle is far from over.

The challenges are immense and shall keep growing with every step we take.

The road is steep.

But unless we begin today, we wouldn’t be in a position to face our own self, towards the dusk of our life.

It’s important to celebrate the day, which very well helps to rekindle & reignite the dormant spirits within us. But equally important is to ensure at the same time, that we shall keep the flame ignited and light up the whole nation by our deeds.

AND AT THE STROKE OF THE MIDNIGHT HOUR, WHEN THE WORLD SLEEPS, INDIA SHALL AWAKE TO LIFE & FREEDOM

Jai Hind!

Wishing the spirit of happy Independence Day to all.

#SignatureSJ

#Sanjay-Jogani.blogspot.com

#15thAugust2018 #72ndIndependenceDay

By –

Sanjay Jogani

15thAugust'2018

Mumbai. India.

Email - Sanjay.blogger.1210@gmail.com

Visit - sanjay-jogani.blogspot.com/in

Disclaimer
Mention about any person, place, event, picture, image or logo; is just for reference purpose to enhance the essence of writing for better presentation. It's not intended to trespass the rights of the original owners.

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

It makes me wonder what to write about #Women on International Women’s Day, the ones about whom the History has been written, time & again.

Ever since centuries and ages in time, the significant events or happenings, invariably saw the women at the centre stage, playing the most pivotal role, culminating eventually to create History.

The most popular epics in Indian mythological scene are “Ramayana” & “Mahabharata”, roots their emergence mostly based on the powerful virtues & strong characters  of “Ma Sita” “Draupadi”, “Mandodari”, and so on…

We talk about Ghosha, Lopamudra, Maitreyi, Gargi of Vedic age (almost 3000 years and before); were the women with substance, immense intellect, knowledge & wisdom.

If we take into account the recent History of 19^th & 20^th Century India, we have, 

Rani Lakshmibai, who led the revolt against the British, better known as warrior queen; 

Kittur Chnnanmma, who rebelled against East India Company; 

Savitribai Phule, an activist who started first school for women; 

Sarojini Naidu, an activist and a poet, popularly known as Nightingale of India; 

Captain Prem Mathur, the first woman pilot in India, 

Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, the first woman and the first Indian President of United Nations General assembly 

and the list goes on….

Even today, whether in Politics or Sports, Business or Economics, a Home-Maker or a Corporate Head, women have been cruising strongly in all departments, at home or away.

With extreme ease and adaptability, they can and have enacted various roles of life with excellence.

Just a couple of days back, news was aired on a TV Channel that India has the highest percentage of women pilot in the world, near to 12% (1200 in figures). 

And such a news becomes all the more important, as because, especially in the country like India, where still the dogmatic customs & traditions are being practised, which deprives the women of their rights to exercise their skills, talents & knowledge for their own growth as well as that of the Nation.

So, when we talk about the celebration of International Women’s Day and it’s importance, it’s actually meant to and is supposed to highlight and emphasise the contribution of women all throughout since time immemorial.

They are & they have always been celebrities.

It’s virtually impossible for any system to operate to an optimum performance with required efficiency, unless ably supported by women as one of the important catalysts, may it be leading from the front or behind the curtains holding the pillars strong.

Men are generally known to make powerful business decisions. 

But, I have seen many of them, thrive on the wisdom of their better halves to march ahead. 

And quite astonishingly the wisdom the women possess is purely based on the simplicity with which they look towards a problem or a situation.

In today’s time of super paced age, women are emerging and leading from all the frontiers, matching pace with the changing times at the speed of thought, with much stronger will & execution.

Here I do not intend to undermine anybody’s integrity or pampering with gender biased-ness, but, the fact remains a fact. 

I am sure many of my male friends shall agree with me, that implementing thoughts & power of execution, is what females are best at.

As our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Mody says, that the focus is now not on “Women development”, but it’s more on “Women led development”, is undoubtedly a worthy statement.

We all need to grow beyond our perspectives to actually understand that it’s a foolish exercise to talk about gender in-equality any more.

At the same time it's very important and a must that a man and a woman always complement each other, as both of them possess the virtues of strengths & weaknesses of the other partner, within their own psychology.
So when one can develop a perspective about the other and his/her situation, then to move together becomes easy & smooth.

I would not miss to mention here, that I am blessed with wonderful friends in women, who have been playing an extra-ordinary role in my life, helping me to evolve and strengthen my intrinsic traits, to keep growing in my journey through life.

This write-up is an effort to salute & to bow in reverence to all the women in the world, without whom the words “life” and “living”, doesn’t hold any significance.

The Women and their extra-ordinary contribution since ages have always been celebrated, and today, we continue & vow to emphasize as a part of our moral duty to put an effort to honour their presence, their work, their existence.

By –
Sanjay Jogani (Saluting the Women Power)

Mumbai. India.

8.3.2018

Email - sanjay.blogger.1210@gmail.com

Visit - sanjay-jogani.blogspot.com

Disclaimer

Mention about any person, place, event, picture, image or logo; is just for reference purpose to enhance the essence of writing for better presentation. It's not intended to trespass the rights of the original owners.

Right to be Happy

Right to be happy

Sometimes I wonder, how much we all have immersed ourselves in various kind of duties, commitments, have-to-do lists, responsibilities......??

The web thus created, we made it as our #ComfortZone.

And when suddenly we come across some happy & exciting opportunities on our way, our deep entanglement doesn't allow us to step out of it.
We resist & avoid switching modes.

We have stopped looking for alternate ways & options, when it comes to make our own selves happy.

We have & in fact we find, hundreds of ways to fulfil our social, family & work demands, but when it's the case of our own wishes, our own dreams, our own happiness, then somehow we tend to pull ourselves away.
We start looking the other way.
We start forming excuses to support our denials.

Dunno, somehow there surfaces a feel of guilt, as if we actually didn't deserve to pamper ourselves.
Somehow, the feel of freedom is missing.
Every thought and every act, is subject to someone or something.

Why can't we develop and build a beautiful world of friends & family around us, where there is mutual sharing of each other's responsibilities & willing intention to step up to fill up the proxy for the other.

This shall make it so easy & convenient for one to feel & experience the freedom and liberty to see & chase his/her dreams, and explore the world around.
A little push and a little encouragement, to make one see beyond the limited space, which they know & have made to be so called world for them.

#JustARandomThought
#PersonalPerspective

By - Sanjay Jogani
31stMarch'2018
Mumbai. India.
sanjay-jogani.blogspot.com/in

Disclaimer
Mention about any person, place, event, picture, image or logo; is just for reference purpose to enhance the essence of writing for better presentation. It's not intended to trespass the rights of the original owners.

The Season Of Exams

The season of Exams.

Here comes February & March, and everything comes to a stand still.

No extravagant family outing, plans, travelling & commitments.
The focus is only on ONE thing.
And that is, the students preparing for their all important finals & parents-teachers keeping a close watch. (As good as exams for them too :-))

Just went to drop my Son for his 1st exam of XII boards today.
Amazing scene of students & parents all around.

Last minute check-lists being carefully and hurriedly covered.

• The hall ticket,
• The writing board,
• The compass box kit,
• To check whether enough numbers of pens & pencils there,
• To check for water bottle,
• last minute advise on how to approach the paper, how not to leave any question unanswered,
• last minute hugs and kisses...

This is simply amazing.

If we closely look at all these emotions turned into actions, we see there is lots and lots at stakes, lots invested on every student with respect to time, money & energy, not only by the parents, but also by teachers, the institution and the education department.

To see their child passing out with flying colours in all important boards exams, is every parent's dream.
Right from the time the child is put into kindergarten, the immediate destination in mind is STD X & XII boards.
And this we believe, sets the tone for an entry & eventual jump into the career oriented graduation stream.

But, I somehow feel, the things have changed or constantly changing, from the perspective of students.
Students appearing for XII boards seem to be much calmer & confident. One of the reasons may be, it being their second outing & experience of appearing for boards, after X boards. Good for them.

At the same time, I have noticed that most of the students at this stage of their academic pursue are not ready or prepared to commit on any particular onward course of studies.

I remember our school & college days in 1990's, when these used to be our all important stepping stone to launch ourselves for higher studies and which also used to set tone for what we actually wanted to become professionally in the career to follow.
May be, limited choices of academics during those times helped us with better clarity pertaining to the same.

Today, the choices are immense, much beyond usual Science, Commerce & Arts. Each of these primary fields of studies now have umpteenth number of sub-choices, leading to or can say branching out to many unknown and unexplored territories of career & profession.

Every year or an alternate, a new subject, a new stream is launched into the mainframe.
And thus, the approach to look towards academics is changed.

More and more inclination towards liberal arts education is seen, where it offers flexibility to the students with respect to their area of interest & strengths.

But in no way it means that students are not thinking or going for core careers pertaining to medicine, engineering or finance.

Yes there are students with strong grip over technical subjects like Mathematics, Physics, Biology and also much clear about their course of studies to be pursued.
But what I am hinting at is, that the volume of students (would rather mention "unsure" students) is increasing every year, who are ready to throw their weights or experiment on any unusual, little offbeat and apparently challenging stream of academics or profession.
And while choosing so, interestingly, their attention to the "pay pack" is secondary.

In anywayz, not going into much details about the intricacies of various opportunities available in today's times, the fact remains that for us parents, who are with school of conservative thoughts, would like to see our children to be sincere in what they study, sustain focus (feel pity for them in these times of electronic distractions) and have clarity about their future.

And quite obviously, who wouldn't like their child to be consistent enough to walk his path towards secured future which they have seen/dreamt for themselves.

So, between outgoing winter and welcoming of the summer, we have these few dayz, which tests our temperament to the extremes.
Let's keep enjoying these times which give us enough spice & space to talk, argue and debate.
At least it is one thing which invariably unites all the students at one side and all what-so-called chasers at the other. ;-)

Once again, wishing best of the luck to all the students (more of that to the parents) to perform at their best, justifying their abilities.

Small request to all my young friends.
If possible, try to understand at least a little from your parent's perspective, when they are trying to help you to pull yourself out of your compulsive addiction towards electronic gadgets, which you are stuck with even during the times which demands more of your focus and personal attention.

By - Sanjay Jogani
21stFeb'2018
Mumbai. India.
sanjay-jogani.blogspot.com

Disclaimer
Mention about any person, place, event, picture, image or logo; is just for reference purpose to enhance the essence of writing for better presentation. It's not intended to trespass the rights of the original owners.

Wah TAJ !!

WAH TAJ !!

Call it a poem or The Story....

A Christmas to remember, 

WAH TAJ !!

5 years back, on Christmas, I was fortunate to visit THE TAJ MAHAL, the legendary Historic monument at Agra.

Alwayz amazed to see, how a festival diffuses & dissolves the man-made differences & discrimination of caste, creed, colour; name, fame & religion...

Here, I'm longing to see Taj with my eyes, could manage to be there after 4 decades in my life,The TAJ as being promised, turned out to be larger than life,

The Tall as it stands, defying Geometricity, with sheer beauty, grace & elegance,
As white as milk, made of marble slabs meticulously placed and engraved, the one of it's kind in the world,

Lots is said about The TAJ in History, but when you see it in real, it defies History and its angles, such is the aura of this monument.

This is the "poetry of love" given a dimension of touch, beyond just the feel & imagination,You move your fingers on every pillars and the walls, and it takes you back in times, towards the era of it's birth.

Close your eyes & imagine thousands of emotions at work;the idea & the plan,the passion & the fire,the hard-work & the sweat,the smiles on every step moving towards the fulfillment of the mission, to create a wonder to be remembered for the generations to follow, not to mention, a reverential beauty, "The Mansion".

Being there at the time of Christmas, the festival matching the elegance of this marvel, the smiles & happiness in the air around.The Christmas lights, Jingle of the bells and the music in the hearts, made TAJ a gift from SANTA, unwrapped for thousands to get soaked up in the white glow, wondering where the light is coming from, is it the Moon or The TAJ.?

Look at the TAJ and all your questions and the problems become miniature.One gets dumbstruck, with wide open unblinking eyes, bowing in awe and reverence to the beauty in times.

By Sanjay Jogani25.12.2017

Mid-Life

Mid-life

The “Mid-life” in a person’s life tenure, ideally used to be the age within the range, 45-60.
But, in recent times, the lower side of the benchmark has slid further down. It starts showing signs from 35, which is a very unfortunate scenario.

Whatever the reasons or causes we arrive at or contribute to this massive change which is happening, the resultant outcome is a “confused” state of affair, for one & all.

Most of the thoughts, ideas, concepts or planning, do not hold good even for a very short period of time. And some even do not see light of the next day.
Most of the action plans, probably meeting with either temporary successes or failures, are actually jumped into, on sheer intuition, optimism or self- gut instincts.

The accumulation of data and eventual analysing, doesn’t offer a concrete, sure-shot, guaranteed outcome.
Please note, here the words Data & Analysis are purely Non-Business & Non-commercial aspect of life, which otherwise of course has to run on certain technical parameters, formulas and equations to arrive at suitable course of action.

Here we are talking about an average thought-driven mid-age human, possessing basic intellect. The one, who already did spend a good amount of years (almost a decade and half back), on his academic grooming up & getting trained in various other faculties. And now, He or She has a life to sustain with basic comforts, which is driven by the requirements of family, work, health & travel.

They are into their new-range Mid-Life now.

#Vulnerabilities

• The level of inertia has increased. The aspirations are dying dormant death.
• The sense of insecurity & thus the fear has creeped in. Fear of losing what’s gathered & conserved over the years is more evident.
• The trust deficit, even within old relationships and acquaintances has widen. To survive or grow at any cost has pushed most into extremities of principally non-suitable and non-acceptable actions.
• The overall social, economic & political environment is getting spoiled world-wide. Every new day offers more of the uncertain & unpredictable situations to deal with.
• Although, access to every person or a product or a piece of information has increased & has become more convenient, it has it’s positive and not so positive sides. Most of the times, which I have been mentioning time & again, the ideas before it mobilises into initiatives, die pre-mature death on such social media platforms.
• The apprehension & the doubt, about taking a foot forward, getting into action, is prevalent amongst the masses.
• The NO(es) & CAN’T(s) are being backed up with smartly framed excuses. A lame effort is put to justify every such step of moving away from the probable greater possibility.

Before we get into or try to find out a cure to such negativity ruling our conscious, especially during Mid-life, it was important & necessary to list out these vulnerabilities & understand the same from third person perspective.

Passing through such Mid-Life situations are not uncommon.
So take a breather. You are not an exception.

Every one of us, passes through such confusions & fear(s), once in a while for a shorter or a bit longer times. But it’s important to first accept & acknowledge the deficiencies which are getting stored within our minds, eventually becoming our mind-set, a habit which tries to destabilize our intrinsic stronger self.

Once we see & spot the short-comings which are created due to the same, we are ready to face them head-on.

1. The most important thing is to desist getting into inert inertia mode.
2. The finger-tip access of information through tens and hundreds of social media portals, must be made to go through the test of actual action.
3. In English grammar we use the term “gerund”. Wherein verbs like, “know” or “do” are made to function as “Noun” by adding “ing” to these verbs. So one must get into the process of knowing, doing, finding, executing, implementing etc. etc. so as to convert these prospective actions, into real actions on the ground.
4. What we are missing is real action. A real experience. We need to come out of the dream world of store house of gathered information. And try verifying, converting them into real knowledge, acting on the same to achieve desired goal, to reach desired destination. This is what is going to count. This is what is going to move us ahead, make us progress.
5. The self-confidence can only be built, once we decide and try something by our own self. The success & failures are just the relative labels given by the people on the shore, who do not want to get wet into the waters of the ocean.
6. Every decision taken today, every action done today is going to be your most precious treasure, when you shall have nothing around you, but just “memories”. Only the things you have done with your own hands, with your own minds, with your instincts, with you own judgements are going to make you proud.
7. Of course, few of the plans & actions do need being in a Team, to work as a Team. But one needs to shine brightly in the team by taking on responsibilities on their shoulders and not avoiding or moving away from it. This in itself is an action which is driven by self-conviction.
8. Rather than spending time on the social media platforms by forwarding & posting stories and messages and getting amazed by them, why not we try to be “the story” ourselves? And not become those, who like to enjoy the snow-peak mountain without having the feel of snow in their hands, who gets happier to see a beautiful sunrise and sunset from the photo-shopped images, rather than walking an extra mile to experience the same with their own eyes.
9. The palm-top gadgets are just a mere source of convenient communication. Those shouldn’t be taking away life out of your limbs. Such a state can be better explained being similar to semi-conscious paralytic state. When you are deep immersed inside your 3x5 gadgets, your brain doesn’t allow your limbs to move & respond to real life calls.
10. Last but not the least, the way we have experienced our child-hood times of lovely memories which still brings tears of joy, evolving into our adult-hood, building life-long friends, & getting into beautiful relationships filled with fresh zeal to perform, to act; eventually had to pave way to the next. Likewise, the “Mid-life” phase is eventually poised to make way for something new, something higher, and may be something more beautiful.

Let’s make this “Mid-life” just a notion of subject matter interest & pull ourselves out of it’s clutches.

Why not make it one of the most beautiful times of our life, as this is the only period, where knowledge meets maturity, passion meets patience, love meets respect, craving for money becomes creating wealth, insanity meets common sense and it’s the only phase which bridges our past and the future, together.

Let’s learn to swim over these turbulent waters and surf through the same, rather than struggling to keep ourselves afloat.

By – Sanjay Jogani
16^th September-2017

(Compulsive) Labelling

(Compulsive) Labelling

Lately, have been witnessing extreme “labelling” (being judgemental about almost every small statement, deeds or actions) by a few, either to each-other or within a group of small Socio-community circle.

Why someone would compulsively label & thus be constantly judgemental about someone’s nature, thoughts, behaviour & action?

This has become all the more prevalent in this age of social media, where your silence is labelled as arrogance, or being indifferent, or as ignorance or may be as being dull.

It seems everyone here is hell-bent on somehow trying to be too visible in order to get attention for their presence, thus justifying and winning a label or two from the other members of the social media community.

I personally believe, everyone has their own choices & moods. Their own beliefs. Their own liking & dis-liking. And thus, their own experiences.

Why would anyone want or say expect the other, to be responding to their wishes & acts, and label them as right or wrong, good or bad, smart or dull, purely based on their own perceptions & understanding of the situation?

Why anyone is asked to be imperative to respond to every question raised?

There are certainly more provisions, options & choices, beyond & above just being mere affirmative or negative on our responses. Wherein, as an individual every one can choose to be silent, choose to be not so proactive and even, choose to be not responding at all.

I was getting curious to know why such type of behaviours are getting more & more styled obvious and being followed blindly by one and all, like a flock of herd.

And, I believe, the answer lies somewhere within, in the trend & tendency of an individual, to get into “loop of mutual admiration”, out of one’s own reservations, limited perceptions & thus some sort of insecurity.

Could it be stated as lack of confidence about one’s own identity?

Now the valid question is, who doesn’t like being noticed, being appreciated & admired, getting approved & being followed?

But in fact, as one is (over)exposed in their capacity, capability, style & behaviour, in the process to expand their network, on/through various social media presences, they actually tend to become more susceptible & vulnerable to scrutiny for their every word & thought.

And let’s accept & remember the fact, that, “Bigger” the network, doesn’t imply “closer”.

Thus, here under extreme scrutiny one undergoes constant scanning of prying eyes. One mistake & tens of good deeds of wisdom get erased & forgotten & propagated at a faster pace due to advent & evolution of social networking medium. So such a situation (may be) makes one apparently highly insecure about their position, relationship & status vis-à-vis others, within the same circle.

Now this apparent insecurity may be the factor which acts as a catalyst, prompting one to often keep mechanically responding, pleasing, admiring & applauding a few, just to step into equal & opposite “mutual admiration web”.

This doesn’t imply that such an act of giving attention & words of appreciation and admiration, is always robotic or not heartfelt.

But sometimes, seemingly, irrelevant, in-significant, un-important statement or the event, which otherwise do not deserve to be or need to be even mentioned in any of the social media public platforms; gets noticed & responded, eventually being followed & sequentially falling into line of response(s) one after the other.

(No offence here to hurt any sentiments. It’s purely prerogative of an individual’s perception).

Being an integral part of this society ourselves, & carrying responsibility for the Gen-Next of our families, it somehow, prompts us to think little harder & contemplate about what type of web are we all getting trapped into?

Whether & 

• Does the mention of certain statement or an act or the post actually needs to be shared, blindly & so often, on such mediums?
• Does such sharing(s), really invokes the interests of anyone in the group or improves upon any of the current situations?
• Does it brings about or paving way for higher wisdom, awareness, or in anyways positively adding to the existing knowledge?

Or 

Is it just that the posting & response to the same is, (maybe) an automatic mechanical compulsive response (I have started calling it as Robotic), so that by attending to his/her post may allow you to reserve a few of their responses for your future posts & uploads?

To me, it sounds and seems, utterly silly & ridiculous.

I repeat, this is the result or an outcome of an im-matured handling & understanding of (evolved) technology.

Every individual is suddenly stark naked within their own created web.

Let’s be little more responsible.

There is something like a “A personalized Private Living”.

We all have our own private lives to live for. Our close families, who actually needs our real, pure, honest attention & response.

Why not keep & apply our storehouse of never-ending flow of messages (forwards) of wisdom, in our own lives, for our very own immediate family with whom we are, what we actually are?

It’s said that the message forwards which are repeatedly referred, re-iterated, stressed upon by anyone, on any social media group or a platform, is (actually) one of the weal-links of the same person referring to it, again & again.

• It’s like if I have hundreds of ways to advise about how one should have peaceful sleep at night, implies that I am already struggling with the same, myself.
• It’s like if I keep advising innovative ways of keeping fit and being healthy, may imply that I myself is already struggling at that front.
• It’s like convincing our own self about few things & few ways, we think & we desire.

Good. No harm in that. 
But the point is, that there are few actions, few decisions, few commitments & stands, one needs to take & implement it themselves for their own good, and try to achieve small goals in that direction, rather than putting up, sharing up & advising so much to get attention and “thumbs up” for every mention about the same in multiple social media outings.

Why do we can’t resist the tendency of getting into justifying & judging every act and event and in that case, even a person around us?

Such a tendency is detrimental to any relationship.

Everyone has a situation & circumstances of their own. Social, economic, psychological, emotional resistances & short comings of their own.

How could one be judgemental about the successes and failures of others & make a law out of it?

How could similar set of preconceived, prejudiced, actions & responses bring about desired outcomes for someone else with different set of parameters & altogether different plane of reference?

About finding a perfect relationship and getting judgemental about everyone coming into your life, a wonderful sequence is shown in a Shahrukh-Aalia starrer movie “Dear Zindagi…”

On Aalia raising doubt & disappointment about not finding Mr Perfect, Shahrukh replies :

Why hunting for just ONE special rishta?

Life mein there are & can be so many special rishtas.

Alag alag ehsaas ke liye, alag alag special rishte..

Like special musical rishta (same music taste), special gossip rishta, like special intellectual rishta, special coffee rishta…

Sab rishton ke ehsaas ki responsibility, ye burden kisi ek rishte par dalna…A bit unfair you know!! :)”

This may imply, restricting ourselves & calling the shots from within our own comfort zones, how can we keep asking/expecting for similar types of ehsaas (feelings) from every person we meet?

One has to accept & understand that life is made up of various cycles. Ups-downs, happy-sad, laughs-cries, motivated-depressed, simple-subtle, success-failure, easy-challenging.

And in different set of situation, there may be different kind of relationships whose presence needs to be acknowledged & appreciated.

• If someone can make you laugh, then may be the other person beside him/her who has the capacity to stand by you in your moments of cry.
• If someone is intellectual to be able to offer solution to every problem of yours, there may be somebody beside his/her who would stand by you when in spite of super guidance you fail & feel down and out.
• If someone keeps praising (flatters) you, may be to make you feel always special, there may be somebody beside his/her who would understand the real you, and smiles with you when you are not feeling loved about your own self.
• If someone has flowery words and answers for all your questions and statements, then there may be somebody beside him/her who would silently watch your eyes and understand that every doubts, every question, doesn’t need answers. May be just holding hand is enough.
• If someone is not visible enough physically, when others are constantly hovering around you, just take a moment of pause to think, that did you find that face & image behind you, beside you, when u actually needed them? If the answer within you is “YES”, then do not bother if you don’t see them in regular cycles. They may have something more important to attend to. Everyone has their own life and as mentioned earlier, their own set of situations to deal with. So don’t (never) jump on being judgemental about them.

Let’s accept - 

• Few things in life are eternal & natural.
• Few people in life are, just there, just like that. They are not to be made to pass through the test of our eyes, thoughts & desires.
• Few acts & events are just there, as they are, not to be analysed & justified, based on our ignorance & limited perceptions.

By too much of aggressive labelling & being judgemental about everything, though unknowingly, or may be unintentionally too, we create an atmosphere where few of our near & dear ones start feeling suffocated. It’s beyond them to become a part of our big-bang shouts & thus they do not have an option, but to keep withdrawing from every such situation which is beyond them to get adjusted to. And gradually in no time, we shall have many such individuals, leading a lonely life of their own, carrying various kinds of labels as burden on their back.

So, actually the technological medium(s) which are being created with a vision & intention to bring the world closer, to connect with each other, may actually generate more of the loners, by our ignorance & mis-use of these platforms to ultimately have AN EXACT OPPOSITE OUTCOME.

• Let’s stop putting & pulling anyone & everyone into specific brackets or class.
• Let’s stop being always critical & extremely judgemental about anybody, or in that case any events or happenings.
• Let’s respect & honour the law of nature & sensitize ourselves by being a good spectator, a good intent listener & be empathetic & humble with our words & deeds.

Wisdom says, no one can disturb & disrupt you, unless you yourself allow them to. True. It’s none of our business to see what others are doing and why? But in actuality, we haven’t yet reached that state of being completely in control, where we can keep & remain fully detached & unaffected, along with & besides all the attachments and connected-ness that we live our lives with.

I strongly believe,

EVERYBODY NEEDS SPACE TO BREATHE & ALLOW THEM THEIRS.

By- Sanjay Jogani – 15th June-2017
#AViewPoint

Dealing with CRISIS (A part of Life)

Dealing with CRISIS...a part of life

Our existence in this world vis-à-vis other co-existences is nothing beyond our part of the representation. 

We, as responsible citizen of the globe, try to contribute in and play our role in the manner, the best we can. 

Of course this presentation by us has innumerable influences and experiences attached to it, which eventually throws our personal perspective into the system.

Now the word “personal perspective” is significant.

If every “thinking” human being acts and reacts only with their own perspectives, there are bound to be conflict of interests, difference of opinions, acceptance and rejections, approvals and disregards, likes and dislikes etc..

The “crisis” we know about and what we usually pass through in life, is mostly based on such conflicts of contrasts. 
This can be inner as well as outer. 
The experience from within or with the world outside.

I firmly believe, that it’s important to first know and understand the "source" of various crisis, we as Human beings, experience during the journey of life.

As we talk about the journey of life, birth cycles, we step into the world with few of the connections (relationships) pre-fixed & assigned with our first breathe. 

These are that of mother and father, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters. 
It’s like, as if the supreme energy (Almighty) above us all, so very well knows, that we shall need few of them to fall back upon, to depend upon, at various stages and phases of life.
And besides above, during the period of our growing up, we further make more of such associations, based on and in line with our various activities and interests, may it be in school or at work, through many societal connections, and even sometimes with no visible reasons, just through few personality influences.

Simpler crisis, in today’s world, which I believe, is generally that of pertaining to food, shelter, education, career and finance; which can be handled by/through various helping hands and may not need to be relied upon on any particular person or group.

In most cases, the parents, spouse, teachers and friends respectively can hold our hands and make us sail through difficult times.

But, there are also crisises which are sometimes beyond any specific person’s reach and control. Wherein, in spite of so many well-wishers and helping hands around us, sometimes it keeps getting tougher and deeper. Complex and critical.

I shall refer to such a situation as terminal kind of crisis.

From my experience, I believe, that the most intensifying factor which an individual goes through during such turbulent times is “The Fear”. 

The fear of the known as well as of the unknown. 
The fear of the present happenings in front of his/her eyes and the fear of anticipation of the worst for the future,

The wonderful relationships which we are associated with, are of course there to console & guide us. And it most certainly does make us feel extremely good & relieve us of some immediate pains and move our thoughts away from the source of crisis, but for a short period of time. 
It’s temporary.

And thus, the need to search for a permanent, more stable & dependable method.

I have passed through a few of such times in my life where I feared the worst. Couldn’t sleep for nights. Was under mental stress and pressure. Every morning seemed torturous and nights monstrous. 
During these times, as mentioned above, the wonderful people around me, did their possible best, with utmost care. 

They tried their ways by bringing in best accessible wisdom through best of their expertize, ability and capacity. 
Heart-felt thanks to all of them who stood by me, when I needed them the most. 
I love them all and promise to be there with them, in their needs.

But by all practical means in today's times, it's not possible for any particular person, how much ever close to you, to keep clinging to your cause 24x7x365. 
And this exactly is the moment, the time, the phase; where the only person with you, is only you. 
This is when one needs to counsel and strengthened oneself gradually and steadily.

Such a time actually helped me to undergo a small phase of “Self introspection”.
Ah! There I believe, I found the lasting solution for most of the crises. 

I learnt that out of any mess, one needed to see bigger purpose behind the same, leading to bigger picture. 

The only way one could smile back and regain one's focus, was by pushing away & moving away from all those links, connections & sources, which lead to negativity in the mind. And instead, try getting connected to all the sources which shall help and infuse newer, fresh & positive thoughts. 

Sounds obvious & so simple, isn't it ??
But it’s so tricky that you are bound to bounce back towards negativity unless you are extremely aware and alert. 

During such crisis, and with in-secured mindset, every accessible news & information, whether through newspapers or through any other electronic medium, generates more of negative distressing thoughts. 
(As most of us would agree, now-a-days major percentage of news what we get to hear or have our hands on, is distressing for the health of our minds).

So what I tried was, to keep connected to, stick to, the most real, original & the natural phenomena around me.
It can be as simple as - to read good, to talk good, to listen good, to see good, to eat good and ultimately start generating good positive vibes & thoughts. 

No doubt, such an effort was well supported by family and friends. 
I deeply appreciate & respect, the quality time they spent with me.

And I learned one valuable lesson, which I still happen to instantly put into effect during any unpleasant times if I come across in my day to day life. 
And that is “ACCEPTANCE”. 

What I first do, is to acknowledge and accept the problem as it is. This opens up my mind for further contemplation and it becomes easier to find ways towards solutions.

What I just mentioned as my experiences and learning, may not hold good for every one, every time.
But friends, trust me. 

Just by being a little more aware, accepting the crisis/problems the way it is, and trying to see the bigger purpose and picture behind it, can create wonders in our approach towards dealing with the situation and makes it little more convenient and easier to face it.

So, my fall back option under any crisis, would surely be the various sources of wisdom learning and applying my experiences to guide me, help me introspect and eventually clear my mind for other positive contemplation. 
This of course needs to be ably and compassionately supported by the near and dear ones, who understand your particular state of body and mind during such times.

By - Sanjay Jogani
Mumbai. India.
Revised, updated 25thMarch-2018
Visit - sanjay-jogani.blogspot.com

Disclaimer
Mention about any person, place, event, picture, image or logo; is just for reference purpose to enhance the essence of writing for better presentation. It's not intended to trespass the rights of the original owners.

My Home...

My Home

Just a thought of these two words or just a mere utterance, brings such a wonderful feeling in one’s heart. A feeling of ownership, feel of being connected to something which is so safe, so sweet & so much a part of our own physical existence.

Every corner of my home has a story.

It’s alive !!

It’s beyond & above the mere forging of Cement & the bricks.

In such a place when one is surrounded by happy, smiling faces of the people, the family; it pours life into every small space between these walls.

The first light of the day is experienced from on the bed, in “the Bed-room”, which is tranquil, cozy and have everything which gives the body and the mind much needed rest for the night. The soft morning light through the window curtains along with early chirping of the birds from over the branches of the tree just touching window, gives me enough energy and positivity to step out of the bed.

And the life starts.

Stepping into the living room and the sight of neatly folded, still untouched and unread newspaper with its usual misty feel and the sweet fragrance is enough to pull me towards it. This space of the home wakes me up for the real world about to begin. The soft, slow morning breeze swaying the leaves of the plant pots on my window, and the early morning playing of old Hindi melodies on my favourite radio channel is enough to add much needed flavour to my reading and enliven “My Living room”.

A little while later, the noise of the steel vessels from the kitchen, transferring of some freshly cooked delicacies on the dining table, calls me to get up and settle on my space for the first meal of the day, my breakfast, on “The Dining Table”. And gradually all d other members of the family, after getting through with their morning chores, settles down on their regular places. Me, my wife, my parents, my daughter & my son, getting into a little chit-chat over the breakfast, quickly going through each other’s plans & priorities for the day, exchanging pleasantries, some smiles, some grins and thus bringing this 8x8 space into life for few minutes. So this space is very special to me.

The best time of the day for me is the time of the early evening. I prefer to be back home at around twilight, getting into “The Kids Room”, and occupy the space on the swing with a cup of hot steaming tea, overlooking the scene outside my window. These 30 minutes or so, sums up my entire day, my thoughts and paves way to enhanced positive outlook on everything which I am doing and I must do. This time and space is “my time’, generally not interfered with any other intrusion. I have my most interesting thoughts being generated on this swing. Most of my plans are framed, flowcharted and being put into virtual action here in this room, in this space, “On the Swing in my Kids room”.

The last meal of the day, sees us all back on “The Dining Table”, meeting each other again after a gap of 10 to 11 hours. This space, which no doubt, in recent highly demanding and technically highly absorbing world, is the only common physical binding space, which keeps us all tied up firmly with each other and with the roots. This relieves the stress and physical & mental exhaustion of the day, if any. In the current times, dining together, I feel is one of the best and the healthiest act or an option which shall carry an Indian legacy, culture and tradition of living together for the times to come. The only place where the family members of 3 or 4 generations could exchange, share, listen and understand what’s really is very precious. So this space has immense importance for me as a person, as a family member.

An hour or so with the kids, post dinner, in their room has become a usual regular phenomena. This is especially as me and my wife are not pro-TV types and in fact love to spend time chatting or going for a drive in the late evenings. This space of my home, the Kid’s room, is where the innocence of my family breathes. The future of my family is getting prepared here in this space. An hour or so with them, almost every alternate day, results in sharing of their personal matters, queries and confusions which are discussed and solution is arrived at. In this space the aspirations and ambitions are at its peak. The emotions are extremes. I love this space and time for myself, as I come face to face with many surprises, creative discussions and debating, shouts, cries and hearty laughs, and these all is necessary and a must pass through, as it belongs to the them whose generation is going to steer and rule the world soon.

The night time bed calls me at its time and reading is more of a must-to-do routine, a habit for at least 30 minutes before I call it a day myself.

Again the cool breeze of the silence outside, an instrumental playing on my DVD player in the back ground, and a few very inspiring & eye opener articles in my read, allows me to be finally home, at complete rest; before it wakes me up with the smile next morning.

By - Sanjay Jogani; 

2^nd October’2016