Driving Towards Happiness

I just watched Riding In Cars With Boys and saw everything I don't want my life to be. She was everything I am, and she got everything I don't want. And even the end didn't redeem her.

I wonder, as I imagine that perfectly planned life that I wish to lead, what the 'issue' will be that will bring all of it crashing down. For Beverly it was the unexpected arrival of her son. I've learnt that nothing goes according to the way we plan. So I wonder that when the 'issue' does arise, will I bounce back, will I be able to adapt or will I crash and burn as Beverly did.

I learn every day in Business class, that as potential managers, we have to learn to be dynamic, and not static. But if you look closely, you see that one thing will always remain the same - our desire to be happy. Everything that we do in our life boils down to this one emotion, this one objective. Only the path that we take to attain this differs - some utterly misguided and some knowing exactly where they are going. And I mean this in a much larger sense than the cliché 'Where do you see yourself in ten years?' It is much larger than what career path you are going to undertake or which university you study in or whether you wear Gucci or Prada or whether you live in the largest apartment in the most expensive part of town. It is so much bigger than that. And yet, paradoxically, it is so small and so simple.

It comes back to that simple moment, before you lay yourself to rest at the end of each day. That moment where your heart is warm and your mind at peace, when you can say to yourself 'I am happy' and believe that what you are saying is the truth.

The True Friends Dilemma

There are friends who stick by you in your time of need, when your life is being turned up side down and your heart along with it. They hold your hand when you can't walk on your own and they sit by you, counselling, comforting.

Normal time comes, and these "friends", along with the heartache, fade away.

And you find yourself sitting with fewer.

True friends are those who are with you during the normal times. As you go through your daily routine, mundane as it may be, you know that the people who walk with you are your true friends.

Often we find ourselves in a dilemma, trying to figure out who our true friends are. But really, it can't be any simpler.

Boy Band Fantasies

I miss feeling the feelings that boy bands used to sing about in their songs.

I’ve spoken about music’s ability as a time machine, zapping you back into that special moment.

If you want me to be near, let me know and I’ll never let you go…

As we grow up, we talk about how ‘sappy’ it all is. But maybe it’s because we don’t get any of it as we grow older. Or maybe it’s just us forgetting the wonders of being in love and trying so hard to be real.

It truly is a terrible conflict of emotions. We miss it when we don’t have it but crib about it when we do have it. The folly of man? Hell yea!

As I listen to one of my favourite Westlife CDs, I remember the afternoons I spent listening to it over and over again. And I remember replaying the fantasies that acted out the songs over and over.

Over time as real relationships took over the fantasies, I forgot the security they offered. No one could hurt you there. You were the one in control. And you were never alone.

They sing the words you always ache to hear. Words that never really come, never really exist.

I need you that much
If I had to run, if I had to crawl
If I had to swim a hundred rivers just to climb a thousand walls
Always know that I would find a way
To get to where you are
There’s no place that far…

Stripped of it all in the real world, I run back to my fantasies. And I am safe.

Dhoni's Dhamaka?

After Dhoni's unfortunate duck in the fifth match of the series, I expected a barrage of criticism from the Indian public. In fact, so did the 4th Umpire as he prepared to discuss the results of the match.

The Indian media and public alike had been so quick to title Mahendra Singh Dhoni the Crown Prince of Indian Cricket, comparing him to the likes of Adam Gilchrist and the King of Indian Cricket himself - Sachin Tendulkar. Navjot Sidhu was correct in his statement: He hasn't even played a test match yet!

And so, when this wave of critcism didn't show, I began to wonder. Perhaps the Indian public is mature enough to realise that Dhoni's dismissal was infact just an unfortunate happening. Or perhaps they wished to hide their shamed faces at the undeserved hullabaloo they made over his prior successes. I wish to believe the former is indeed the truth. But perhaps the truth lies the latter.

Dhoni's Dhamaka: will it phase out as the Spice Girls did or live on eternally like the Beatles?

There seems to be only one answer to that: Only time will tell.

The Hindu Christmas

There were women dressed up in the most beautiful sarees and men in goregous kurtas. There was a pooja in the morning. People on the streets were elated and the mood was festive. People greeted each other with hugs, kisses and laughter. The streets were trickled with cracker remains, and grew in number as crackers blew up in the background. The streets were crowded with people bustling from home to home or temple to home or just mingling. Visits were made, gifts given and sweets eaten.

The evening brought with it the twinkling of earthly stars. Diyas guarded the entrance to every home and every store. And lights were draped across buildings. Even the poorest of the poor would have at least one indicator that he was celebrating this festival of lights. Crackers sprayed drops of light, swirling around dancing to the Tune of Diwali.

Everyone was joyful and everyone was hopeful about the new year.

I sat with four other girls in a Mumbai cab, driving home. And I basked in this ambience that engulfed this city on this joyous occasion. The blood stained streets of the Delhi markets were now only a distant memory. Perhaps not to the families of the victims..

We drove back late at night, the roads lighted with the faint glow of the lamps that lined them and the occasional cracker that blew up on either side, despite the late hour. The night was cool and the light breeze streamed through my hair.

I remembered Christmas. The parallels and the differences with this Hindu Christmas. And I longed to be home.
Yet the final goal was the same - bringing God home.

My first Diwali .. and I spent it with good people and people I loved. Contentment. Peace.