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The White Domed Marble named cricket....

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This is a game dear to a billion hearts. For many old timers, like myself, cricket is more than just another legacy that the British left behind amidst a bloody partition and a triumphant declaration of independence. Inseparable part of my childhood was  growing up playing cricket in the dusty streets, damaging many street lights, window panes. Amidst all those brittle objects that we physically damaged while playing, a strong monument was getting built - A monument of love for the game - an unexplained attraction to its charm, spirit that would stay with us for a long time . A feeling familiar to those who have played the game with their school friends, neighbors. Many of us learnt to love the game even before we learnt to love. We learnt the game from school friends, perhaps the same time we learnt about Taj Mahal and Shah Jehan s love for Mumtaz in history lessons. As a child going to school, the two things that fascinated me about India were its cricket team and the Taj Mahal, t
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Happiness....

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Initially, I tossed aside Gretchen Rubin s ‘ The Happiness Project’ book as another vague self help book that sits beside tons of   ‘ Eight ways to becoming rich’ type self help books.   Then the little footer ‘ Start your own happiness project’ and the little ‘ Why I spent a year trying to sing in the morning…’ note in the cover convinced me to buy it to read. Simply because, like many, I believe Happiness scores over many things – including the egoistic desire to be right- in life The lawyer turned writer Gretchen did set me thinking.   She does not outline a standard ‘ formula of happiness’ with a list of do s and don’t s for everyone. Instead, she describes her own attempts to make her life happier in a structured way, focusing on one aspect of what contributes to her happiness. This makes a crucial difference to the reader. Usually, we feel ‘lectured upon’ when we read self help books. Not with this one. I can assure you that you will find a candid narration of her own expe
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The Love called Mom..

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The popular saying goes that God could not love us all at the same time so He created mothers.   God was indeed smart – not only did He ensure more love for children, He also ensured less work for Himself. Noone really cares or realizes what a great responsibility being a mother is – until they themselves become a parent.   As a child, I saw my mom manage three of us brothers and my dad – preparing breakfast, preparing and packing our lunches in our respective boxes, making sure we all got our morning coffees, collected jasmine flowers and prepared garlands and got the altar ready for my dad to do his prayers…all by 8 AM. After we all left to our schools and my dad left for work, my mom washed clothes, washed vessels, cleaned up the house and hold your breath – manually drew water from a well that was 100 feet deep –this was water required for a family of 5 – bathing, washing, cleaning – because we did not have taps at home. She then attended to my dad when he came home for lu
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To Father, with Love.. I do not advocate speaking for others or generalizing, but this is one statement I can confidently say others who experienced it will agree - No event in anyone s life is as significant as the day he/she becomes a parent. I am not going to give the details on changing diapers or getting up at 2 30 AM and running to feed the baby or any other responsibility as a parent. They all either change or go away after a period of time. The most significant change in my life when I became a Dad about four months ago, is the way I surprised myself at how I could accomodate someone other than me as the central focus in my life. All along the 39 years of my life, i found it hard to accept someone else driving my schedule or decisions.  There was one central focus of all my actions - my happiness.  Suddenly, I found myself trying hard to make my son feel comfortable - even at my own discomfort. Nothing seemed to matter other than providing him the best I can get. I wanted him
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Temple and Gods

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Venue: Heaven [ The Abode of God] Date : 19 March 1973 God: Get ready, my dear child, you will be born in earth tomorrow. Child: I m scared, my Lord. God: Why ? Child: Will I survive such huge competetion, jealousy, greed and all other evils that make it such a scary place to live ? God: Yes, you will. I have made sure you get the best parents on earth who will teach you how to handle them all with love, care, hard work and giving to others. They have already have built these values in their two boys and you will also enjoy the privileges of being the youngest. Child: So, will you not be available for me when I need help ? God: I am always protecting you. But, your Parents will give you more love and care than even I can give - I have six billion other people to take care of, so I need help too, which is why I choose the best parents for you, so that you are strong enough to face life by yourself. And the child was born in Chennai during the early hours of 2
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Inspiration

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A genius is 1 % inspiration and 99 % perspiration - Thomas Edison. Nature , I guess is 1 % inspiration and 99 % perfection !!. As I was driving through the pictursque route 1 by the side of the pacific, I found myself pulling over and stopping many times to admire the sea, mountains , the clouds and the tiny beaches . They were simply spectacular !! There are moments when language seems to fail and adjectives fall short of describing how we feel - Those moments when we wish we could freeze time !! The moment when nothing else seems to matter!! The Instance when the baggage of past, fear of future vanish and we are completely connected and become one with the moment in hand - What Eckhart Tolle describes as 'absolute connection with the present moment' ! Who said physical beauty declines as we age ? Here are these mountains and oceans, millions of years old and still, breathtakingly beautiful. They were not just scenic, but were also inspiring !! They inspired me to be more of m
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Work is Worship....

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Ah !! Work !! Deadlines, slogging, stress, long hours, that eerie feeling of overworked and underpaid and unrewarded !!! sounds familiar ? Noone escapes it - Somebody s ambition translates into more work for many. Someone wants to add a successful deal to his resume and it ends up burining out so many people s happiness [ down the hierarchy, of course - the last one is affected the most !!] Despite knowing that the deadline is aggressive, commitments are made - only for reality to stare at face soon. Running at top speed to just catch up, stress takes over and overwhelms you completely !! OH yeah !! don t we all take pride at being so busy ? 'No time, too much work !! ' is a statement that never seems to go out of fashion. Make it a point to let everyone know how much you are drowning in work, not having time to invest in personal life and still, accept the last minute change request. I m not being cynical - most of it is actually true - which is the real problem. I was wo
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