The Result Day
People normally write on their blogs about their achievements. But why not celebrate our wrong days with the readers? After all, my blog is being read only by a few close people and I think one should share both things with their close ones. The days of their joys and the days of their gloom.
It was 13th August 2009. I still remember that day. The day of my CA Final results. As most of my papers didnt go that bad, I knew I would pass atleast. But then there was this new President of the Institute who threatened students by saying let me see how u ppl go through. But i took that comment just as a wake up call for those who are addicted to spoon feeding and coaching centers. Me, as a concept guy, will do better- was my assumption. After all, depending on the result of previous attempts, it was not that tough to stand in 24 out of 100 odd people i felt.
The day came.
I was anxious from atleast 5-6 days before the results day. I went to office on usual time. 10.10 it was. Checked in the computer to see if they have released my fate during those 10 minutes i took from home to my office. No. It was not there. I occupied my seat before the computer. U know when u give such type of exams with crazy results patterns, u also start believing in crazy things. Like a particular PC is a luckier of the lot. I occupied my seat in front of PC and kept pressing F5.
Suddenly the site http://caresults.nic.in flashed "Released" in place of "To be released". I remembered God and entered my number. It is a general human psychology. The thing is, when u expect 100%, 50% never can please u. The same was my condition. The first word i read on that page was "FAIL". Those four letters were going to haunt me like anything in coming months or years may be. My mouth was left open. After a second or two i read another four letter word which said "PASS". MY INSTITUTE declared me pass in one group of four subjects and fail in the other. I didnt knew what to do. I entered another number which was just two numbers ahead of me. It was of Sanjay, my friend and colleague. He passed in both the groups. His total was also excellent. So, I thought I should check his merit. I did. He got some 46/47th rank. Indeed a good news. But then why i failed altogether- i felt in my mind. Anywys, I printed mine and his marksheets. Went to his table. Gave him the news.
Then i moved to another end of the office. To meet Jaimin and Urvi, two of my closest buddies even today. Jaimin also gave exams this time. They already knew the results. Saw their faces. Miss Urvi Joshi, one of the strongest girl i've ever met was about to cry. So was jaimin. Jaimin was depressed for his results and Urvi was depressed for her friends. This was the worst part of the scheme of things. At any given day, I can’t see my friends down. In fact, I cant see anyone down. I don’t know this a good thing or a bad one about me. And this time they were down because of me. What a strange set of friends i've got - i said to myself. Idiots were down for me instead of taking my care. It was reverse. It was me who consolidated Urvi. The buzz spread in office. Everyone was congratulating Sanjay. I was also congratulated but with a question - "What went wrong in second group??" As if i knew the answer. And I was even wondering about the first group. Though I cleared it, the marks were not upto my expectation except in Financial Management.
I hardly before this would have waited so desperately for lunch break in office. I took break 30 minutes earlier. Went home. May be for the first time in my life after my childhood, I cried for more than 5 minutes. And that too with volume. (LOL) I was alone at home. I cried in front of my God for all those odd 90-100 minutes. I do cry but my sobs never had voice before. But today i was crying like a crazy child. I still feel that though all the doors and windows were closed, some of my neighbours must be thinking wht's wrong with our house. But atleast nobody knocked the door to see wht's wrong. So that was fine.
I will really not forget this day of my life. The taste of failure. I take it as a gift my life has given to me. And i firmly believe it has it's own good things to offer. Even while i m writing this after about 500 days of that, I still have not recovered from it. In fact have drowned more into it. And i m still worried about the impact it will have on my career.
But one thing i knw is, all this is my God's wish. And i knw He loves me. He never does wrong to any. In fact He tries to minimize the impact. He loves all.
The Law of the Seed
(Another story from a forwarded mail)
Take a look at an apple tree. There might be five hundred apples on the tree, each with ten seeds. That's a lot of seeds. We might ask, "Why would you need so many seeds to grow just a few more trees?"
Nature has something to teach us here. It's telling us: "Most seeds never grow. So if you really want to make something happen, you should better try more than once."
This might mean:
You'll attend twenty interviews to get one job.
You'll interview forty people to find one good employee.
You'll talk to fifty people to sell one house, car, vacuum cleaner, insurance policy, or idea.
And you might meet a hundred acquaintances to find one special friend.
When we understand the 'Law of the Seed', we don't get so disappointed. We stop feeling like victims. Laws of nature are not things to take personally. We just need to understand them - and work with them.
IN A NUTSHELL..
Successful people fail more often. They plant more seeds.
Diffrence between logical and lateral thinking
(This story I got in a forwarded mail, thought interesting to share it here.)Many years ago in a small Indian village,
A farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender.
The Moneylender , who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.
So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let Providence decide the matter.
He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.
- If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.
- If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.
- But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into Jail.
They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag.
He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.
Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:
- The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.
The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.
Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.
The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Well, here is what she did ....
.
.
The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.
"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked."
Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.
Moral of the Story:
Most complex problems do have a simple solution.
It is only that we don't ATTEMPT to think.
તે મને શીખવ.
=x=X=~#~#~ ***~#~X#~x~#X~#~***~#~#~ =X=x= =x=X=~#~#~ ***~#~X#~x~#X~#~***~#~#~ =X=x= હે પ્રભુ,
સંજોગો વિકટ હોય ત્યારે,
સુંદર રીતે કેમ જીવવું?
તે મને શીખવ.
બધી બાબતો અવળી પડતી હોય ત્યારે,
હાસ્ય અને આનંદ કેમ ન ગુમાવવાં?
તે મને શીખવ.
પરિસ્થિતિ ગુસ્સો પ્રેરે તેવી હોય ત્યારે,
શાંતિ કેમ રાખવી?
તે મને શીખવ.
કામ અતિશય મુશ્કેલ લાગતું હોય ત્યારે,
ખંતથી તેમાં લાગ્યા કેમ રહેવું?
તે મને શીખવ.
કઠોર ટીકા ને નિંદાનો વરસાદ વરસે ત્યારે,
તેમાંથી મારા ખપનું ગ્રહણ કેમ કરી લેવું?
તે મને શીખવ.
પ્રલોભનો, પ્રશંસા, ખુશામતની વચ્ચે
તટસ્થ કેમ રહેવું?
તે મને શીખવ.
ચારે બાજુથી મુશ્કેલીઓ ઘેરી વળે,
શ્રધ્ધા ડગુમગુ થઈ જાય,
નિરાશાની ગર્તામાં મન ડૂબી જાય ત્યારે,
ધૈર્ય અને શાંતિથી તારી કૃપાની પ્રતીક્ષા કેમ કરવી?
તે મને શીખવ.
Escapism Vs. Practicality and India: Part – 2
There is an interesting incident from the ancient India that I want to share here. I think it can be perfectly fitted in the situation the country is facing right now in the Ayodhya issue. Some of my friends have suggested that there should be neither a temple nor a mosque on that place. Rather, there should be a hospital/school/monument, etc.
In Mahabharata also, the battle of Kuruskshetra happened because of property issue (kingdom). Both the sides were fighting for their right over the kingdom of Mahabharata. However, at that time, Lord Krishna sensed the urgency of mediation between them without any battle because after all both the parties involved in fight were brothers and relatives only (Just as today both the parties are Indians only). After convincing the Pandavas He went to Duryodhana to tell him to give away some part of the land to the Pandavas. To this, Duryodhana said he would not give land equivalent to even “the tip of a needle”!! Just as the situation is right now.
Now, it is interesting to learn what Krishna did after this. He said the very famous lines which I m putting here in Gujarati.
“પાર્થને કહો ચઢાવે બાણ, હવે તો યુદ્ધ એ જ કલ્યાણ!!”
(Ask Arjuna to prepare his bow, now battle is the only solution)
As soon as the Lord sensed that there is no feasible solution to the issue, HE STOPPED BEING PRACTICAL. And more importantly He didnt escaped. What He said is - "now dharmayuddha is the only solution and only in it lies the "kalyan" of all".
He wanted an permenant solution. Mediation is the best option to be used in the first place but when it fails, one should not leave the matter as it is. To bring any battle – legal or
otherwise to the final solution is “dharma” of both/all the parties involved in it. By not bringing the matter to solution, we are doing injustice to the problem itself. The problems without solutions only complicates the things more.
Once Lord felt that the battle is the only solution, He himself initiated that fire within the Pandavas. When Arjuna said Him that he dont want to fight for just a piece of land with his own brothers, Lord got angry on him. Krishna said him that it was not at his option - to fight or not. It was his dharma to fight. What Arjuna showed was not practicality, it was escapism. And Krishna saved him from that.
Today also, what India needs is the final solution. The solution that suits both the parties and puts the matter to end for always. I am not depicting one side as bad and the other as good, but the neccessity of final solution doesnt decreases due to that. It is always needed. Part time solutions like “build a park” are not expected. It will not put a final end to the issue.
In Mahabharata, what would’ve happened if Krishna said Pandavas to compromise and remain in forests forever? He could’ve said them this was the best option as it will save them from the battle, loss of lives, fear of failure, etc. etc. He was having all the reasons with Him to stop the fight. He could have easily stopped Pandavas from the battle. They wouldn't have denied Him. But He didnt even considered those escapist reason. He told Pandavas to fight it out. Same way, He also expected the Kauravas to do the same.
So, what i want to say here is, to remain peaceful and united as a society and as a nation, we should always try to reach to the final solution. And not leave a matter half-way down by some makeshift solution to it.
Because as i said earlier, solution is the “birthright” of every dispute. And to arrive at a solution, is the “dharma” of both the disputants. And it is the soultion only in which lies "param kalyan (liberation)" of the parties.
Escapism vs. Practicality and India
NOTE: Before starting this blog post let me clarify that I am not trying to be a hardliner Hindu. I respect views of both the communities. Kindly try to read the following post rising above that mundane communal difference – just as an Indian.Ours is the country with reach cultural heritage and diversity. We have always welcomed the different schools of thoughts and have even adopted them to the large extent. And this is the reason between our unique diversity and more unique, - unity among that diversity.
But looking at the past and present of India, I feel we have suffered largely sometimes as we have not understood the difference between “escapism” and “practicality”.
Escapism:
The tendency to escape from daily reality or routine by indulging in daydreaming, fantasy, or entertainment.
Practicability:
Being flexibly adjustible with the circumstances in order to arrive at a consensus to an issue or problem.
Now there is a difference between both. We Indians are grown up in such a mindset that sometimes we put a mask of practicalism on the escapism and let the things happen as they are happening. We famously call this approach – “chalta hain approach” in India. But actually this type of approach increases the problems in the longer run instead of eliminating them.
Looking at the past of India as a person from younger generation, I can say that the approach of Nehru was escapism. While that of Sardar was practical. And due to this escapism or “chalta hain” approach only, we are facing encroachment
of around 10% of the total land mass of India by Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Republic of China in various parts of our country – J&K and Arunachal to name a few. We invited these problems because our leaders were (and are) escapist and not practical. They just suffered from the great Indian mentality – we the Indians just want to arrive at the solution at any end, it does not bother us how much we have to let go, we just want solution - the solution to put an end to the problem. Not the solution to solve the problem.
Yesterday the Hon. Allahabad High Court pronounced its judgment over the Ayodhya issue. The case (in fact cases) were pending since 60 years. And when finally the date of judgment arrived, instead of allowing the judgment, the some (especially younger) fractions of India began chanting that the judgment should not be delivered. Or that there should be some hospital or museum or monument on that site. (In fact I read one girl posting on facebook that rather than a school/hospital, should build a mall on Ramjanmabhoomi!!! All I can say is “He Ram!”)
Now this is escapism. This approach will only keep the problem latent for sometime but will not solve it. The advocates of this approach say if there is a verdict in any one party’s favour, there will be communal tension. Well, sorry but I don’t agree. India is not that immature these days. And I am of the favour that even if there is some tension, let the clear verdict come. Because then, this will put an end to this at one time. There may be some tension for some days but then for the coming decades there will be lasting peace. If the clear cut judgment is not pronounced, then yes there will be peace for now but who can guarantee for the decades to come?
If they build a hospital/school/monument there, do you feel there will be an end to the issue?? No. This issue can end only if there is a uni-directional judgment regarding the ownership right of that place. Otherwise people who can break temple/mosques, why can't they break the hospital? They can obviously. Who has seen the future? After some decades, some ambitious political leader will arise; will gather mob and people will again fight for their mosque/temple. This can end only if there is a clear judgment leaving no space for such people to fight over it.
And one more irony is, people who say there should be built a hospital are the same people who have never donated a single paisa in any of the hospitals! Probably many of them even fear donating their blood! Still they can talk about “humanity”! This is the height of "psuedo-democracy"
Well, this is India- the fusion India where being an intellectual means being an atheist. Only here can a chief minister of a state say that “Sita was actually a siter of Ram” and that “Ram is just a myth” (Click here for source). Here a government ruling at the center can file an affidavit in the apex court of the country that “There is no evidence to prove that Ram existed!” (Source 1, Source 2). This is the bullshit system we live in! Bloody in this regard, even the other backward autocratic countries are better. Atleast their government don't announce such bullshit about their faith for votes! But still, we have this mentality of “chalta hain”! The same government was re-elected (Please mind I am not opposing any party.. For me all parties have same crap..) All this can only happen in India. Because we are escapists. What will you feel if your CM tells you tomorrow that he has proof that your grandma and grandpa were actually siblings!! What will you do?? This is what actually has happened to you if you are a Hindu. Ram-Sita are ancestor for aryas. And still we have this “chalta hain”, unke kehne se thoda ho jayega? Bull shit.
So, coming back to the current topic, what is need of the hour is clear verdict. In favour of either of the party. No escapism from facts this time please. Tell us what is truth- and the permenant one, please.
And most important of the all, we shall remain united, remain peaceful.
P.S.: My take on the Judgement : For the first time, the India has shown to the British that how "divide and rule" can be used for good.".. :)
Thanx.
Read next part of the discussion on same topic here.
Book Review : “One Night @ the Call Center”
Just read this Chetan Bhagat book last week. This was for first time I was reading the author. And having heard a lot on him, I was a bit critical and apprehensive about the book.
Also I always wondered how one can write a whole book on just 7-8 hours of some people's lives? The story revolves around six people working at a call center – Shyam, Priyanka, Vroom, Esha, Radhika and Military Uncle. It’s about their lives, problems they are facing in their private lives, their struggle with the circumstances, etc. Almost every young person can share his/her work life with them. Considering the book is for young readers, starting of the story is nice, specially the introduction of characters and the environment. The book is basically written as a narrative from Shyam, one of the characters.
Things I liked about the book:
One really good thing I felt about the story is, even if it revolves around a single night, and that too most of the time in a single place, and that too “a workplace”; still you won’t find the flow boring. It can generate enough curiosity in the mind of a reader to let finish the book at one stand.
Also the in-between chapters on dates between Shyam and Priyanka adds extra humour and gives necessary breaks from the office ambience to readers.
One compliment I must give to the author is that he has really wrote up his mind – openly. The way he has criticized the Americans’ mentality, the bitchiness of MNCs, the exploitation, etc.. The way he has openly criticized a cold-drink company for the shit they serve, or the Americans as being the dumbest and fearful population ever, kudos to him. No other author I’ve read can write it in such manner.
I read most of the book at night. Till I completed 80% of the book, the author didn’t impress me much. Then I went for some tea at 2.30 in night. And then when I started reading the other 20%, I was really impressed by the author. Everything of this book is contained in that 20% of it. But to understand and get the feel of that situation, at first you will also have to read former 80%. Really a good sign of a great story teller. According to me, the ideal story shall be like this only. The first part should prepare you towards the end, and the end shall leave you thinking. The thought provoking part shall always be in the later part of the book but also the former part shall also be interesting enough to keep up the tempo to read through last. This book earns perfect 10 on that front.
The way Chetan has characterized God is also very interesting. We often take God as some supreme authority who governs our life and notices every wrong-doings of us and punishes us for doing them. But we often forget that He is the best friend we have ever got. We are as old as He is. And we both know each other since inception of the all. If we see Him as a friend, we can solve almost all the problems we face in our life.
What I didn't like:
The author said the book represents youth of India. As far as he means youth of metro India, and that too only 40%-50% of them, he is right. The other youth of India is not exactly the same as depicted in the book. They don’t go to pubs, don’t engage in pre-marital sex or don’t sleep with someone for work. Till today, most of the girls in India won’t drink liquor with guys as shown in the book. That all could’ve been avoided.
One more thing that disappointed is, I as a younger guy, can’t recommend this book to some of my elder generation people despite knowing that it is really a good book. The reason is – same mentioned in the above paragraph. They wouldn’t be able to digest such pages. Though it didn’t make me much difference in reading those, it will make to them.
Who Should Read?
the young working generation,
people with a bad boss,
young vulnerable couples, including those who recently broke up,
wanna-be entrepreneurs,
and contemporary readers
all such people will find this book really nice.
Ratings:
I would give this book 4 out of 5 any time. Really an enjoyable book. Good work Mr. Chetan. Now I m even more excited to read other books of this author.
Some Lines from the Book:
'Sure, remember Bakshi is not your boss, the ultimate boss is me. And I am with you. So what are you afraid of?' God said.
'Excuse me, but you are not there with us always. Or how did we end up here?' Radhika said.
God sighed before speaking again. 'I think you need to understand how my system works. You see, I have a contract with all human beings. You do your best, and every now and then, I will come behind to give you a bonus push. But it has to begin with you. For otherwise, I can't distinguish who needs my help most.'
Other Sources:
About Author
About Book
At last, your views and comments on this review are welcomed.
Parth
સત્યનાં પ્રયોગો – ૨
કેમ છો મિત્રો.. આપણે આજે “સત્યનાં પ્રયોગો”માં થી ગાંધીજીના જીવનનાં સારા અને પ્રેરણાદાયી ગુણો જાણવાનું આપણું કામ આગળ ધપાવીશું..
૩. સ્વછતા:
ગાંધી બાપુનો સ્વચ્છતા માટેનો આગ્રહ આખા પુસ્તકમાં અલગ તરી આવતો જણાય છે. પોતે દેશપ્રેમી અને રાષ્ટ્રપિતા ગણાયા હોવા છતાં તેઓએ ભારતીયો જેવી રીતે બાહ્ય સ્વછતા સામે દુર્લક્ષ સેવે છે તે પોતાની આત્મકથામાં અનેક જગ્યાએ વર્ણવેલું છે. ઘરનાં આંગણથી માંડીને ટ્રેનનાં થર્ડ ક્લાસના ડબ્બા, અરે હિંદુ ધર્મનાં ખૂબ જ પવિત્ર તીર્થસ્થાનો સુધી ભારતમાં જોવા મળતો ચોક્ખાઈ અને “Hygiene” નો અભાવ તેમણે ઘણી જગ્યાએ વર્ણવ્યો છે. (અત્યાર સુધી એ અભાવ યથાવત જ છે – તાજું ઉદાહરણ રાષ્ટ્રમંડળ ખેલ ગામ – Commonwealth Games Village) ગાંધીજી પોતે સ્વચ્છતાનાં ઘણા કડક હિમાયતી જણાય છે – બાહ્ય અને અંતર બંનેની સ્વચ્છતાનાં..
ભારતમાં સ્વચ્છતા કેળવવાનાં ઉપાયો વિષે થોડું મંથન કરતા જણાયું કે જો સૌથી કાર્યક્ષમ કોઈ ઉપાય હોય તો મને અત્યારે તો ગાંધીજીનાં પોતાના જ આ શબ્દો લાગે છે – “Be the change you want to see in the world”. જો આપણે પોતે સ્વચ્છ થઈશું તો મારું માનવું છે કે આપણું આસપાસનું વાતાવરણ પણ સ્વચ્છ થઇ જશે. આ મારું માનવું છે. હજુ પ્રયત્ન નથી કર્યો એ દિશામાં. પરંતુ જો અંતરની આંતરિક શુદ્ધિને આ તર્ક લાગુ પાડી શકાતો હોય તો બાહ્ય શુદ્ધિને કેમ નહિ?? ગુરુહરિ પ્રમુખસ્વામી મહારાજનાં જીવનમાં આ જોવા મળે છે. તેમનું હૃદય શુદ્ધ છે તો તેમનાં માટે સમગ્ર વિશ્વ પણ શુદ્ધ છે. તેમને કોઈનો અવગુણ જાણતો નથી. આમ જો આ વાત અંતરની શુદ્ધિને લાગુ પડે તો તેને બાહ્ય શુદ્ધિ સાથે પણ લાગુ પાડી શકાય એવો મારો તર્ક છે. જો આપણે બાહ્ય શુદ્ધિ રાખીએ – આપણા ઘર, શરીર, ઓફીસ ડેસ્ક ને સાફ રાખીએ તો કદાચ આસ-પાસનું વિશ્વ પણ આપણને સાફ લાગવા લાગે. તમારામાંથી કોઈને એવો અનુભવ થયો હોય તો કૃપા કરી નીચે કોમેન્ટમાં એનું વર્ણન કરજો.
આજે હું પણ મારા આ વિચારને અમલમાં મુકીને મારા રૂમને જેટલો સાફ રાખી શકું એટલો રાખવા પ્રયત્ન કરીશ. બસ આજના માટે આટલું જ. વધુ ફરી ક્યારેક, જેમ મનમાં વિચારો આવશે તેમ..
સત્યનાં પ્રયોગો..- ૧
કેમ છો મિત્રો..
ઘણા દિવસો પછી બ્લોગ અપડેટ કરું છું.. છેલ્લા દિવસોમાં વાતો તો ઘણી બની છે.. પણ એ બધું ફરી ક્યારેક.. આજે તો ખાસ ગાંધીજીની આત્મકથા, “સત્યનાં પ્રયોગો” ઉપર વાત કરવી છે..
આમ તો આ પુસ્તકની હિન્દીમાં સંક્ષિપ્ત આવૃત્તિ પહેલેથી હતી પરંતુ આ વર્ષની શરૂઆતમાં જ જયારે અમદાવાદમાં “ક્રોસવર્ડ”માં તેની નવજીવન પ્રેસ દ્વારા પ્રકાશિત મૂળ ગુજરાતી આવૃત્તિ નજરે ચડી ત્યારે એ સહેજે ખરીદી લીધી. આમ તો ગાંધીજી વિષે ઘણું બધું વાંચ્યું છે.. અને એનાથી ક્યાય વધારે સાંભળ્યું છે.. પરંતુ મનમાં તો એ જ રમતું હતું કે ક્યારેક ગાંધીજીને પોતાને વાંચવા છે.. આખરે ગુજરાતી હોવાનો એટલો તો લાભ આપણે લેવો જ ઘટે.. એટલે એ ગુજરાતી મહામાનવનું પોતે પોતાના વિશે ગુજરાતીમાં જ લખેલું પુસ્તક વાંચવું તો રહ્યું જ.. લોકો વિષે ગાંધીજીને લગતા સારા-ખરાબ અભિપ્રાયો સંભાળતો ત્યારે મને પહેલેથી જ વિચાર રહેતો કે મારે તેમને વાંચીને પોતે જાણવા.. અને આની સાથે સાથે નવજીવન પ્રેસ દ્વારા જ પ્રકાશિત થયેલ ભારતનાં લોહ-પુરુષ અને મારા પડોશમાં જ જન્મેલા “સરદાર” વલ્લભભાઈની આત્મકથા પણ ખરીદી લીધી..
પરંતુ આ પુસ્તક વાંચવાનો મેળ તો છ મહિના પછી આ ઓગસ્ટ મહિનામાં જ પડ્યો.. પુસ્તક વાંચતા પહેલા ગાંધીજી વિષે મનમાં અમુક શંકાઓ અને અભિપ્રાયો હતા. વાંચ્યા પછી તે બધા દુર થયા એવું તો કહેવું કદાચ અસ્થાને રહેશે. હા, કદાચ વધ્યા હોય ખરા.. પરંતુ હું ગાંધીજીને એક અલગ જ રીતે નીરખતો તો થયો જ કહેવાઉં.. હવે હું તેમને એક ભક્ત તરીકે, તપસ્વી-સાધક તરીકે, નીતીઆચરણના પુજારી તરીકે, એક વિચારક-સુધારક-પ્રજા પ્રતિનિધિ અને એક રાજકારણી તરીકે ઘણી વધારે સારી રીતે જાણતો થયો. જો કે, એમની ઘણી પદ્ધતિઓને મારા મને સ્વીકારવાની કેમેય કરીને હા ન પડી. પણ કદાચ એમાં મારી ટૂંકી દ્રષ્ટિ જ કારણભૂત બની શકે.. જે હોય તે, પરંતુ હું તો તેમનાં અમુક અભિપ્રાયો હજી સમજી નથી શક્યો. અને કદાચ સમજીશ પણ નહિ..
પરંતુ અહીં આપણે એમના ગુણોની ચર્ચા જ વધારે કરવી ઘટે..
૧. ગાંધીજીમાં સૌથી વધારે સારો ગુણ જો હું ગણતો હોઉં તો એ છે દરેક વસ્તુને સત્યની એરણ પર ચકાસવાની વૃત્તી. આપણા “અર્વાચીન” હિંદુ ધર્મની એ કરુણતા છે કે આપણે ત્યાં કોઈ ધર્મને અને શિક્ષણને સત્યની કસોટી પર ચડાવતું નથી.. જે પીરસવામાં આવે તે તૈયાર જ લઇ લેવાય છે.. હું માનું છું કે ધર્મને સત્યરૂપી અગ્નિપરીક્ષામાં ચડાવવાથી, ધર્મની અસ્મિતા કંઈ ઝાંખી નથી પડી જતી. ઉપરથી અનેકગણી વધી જાય છે. માણસ પોતે જે કાર્ય કરતો હોય છે, અથવા પોતે જે વસ્તુનો સમર્થક હોય છે, એમાં એને પોતાને દ્રઢ વિશ્વાસ હોય તો જ તે પોતાનું અને બીજાનું શ્રેય કરી શકે.. પરંતુ આજે આપણે અત્યારે સમાજમાં બે પ્રકારના માણસો જોઈ શકીએ – એક તો એવા છે કે જે પોતે જે આચરણ કરે છે તેના પર ઊંડો ઉતર્યો છે. અને બીજા એવા છે કે જે ફક્ત કોઈ બીજાને અનુસરતા હોય છે.. ધર્મક્ષેત્રે આ બીજા પ્રકારના માણસોની અછત નથી.. એકાદશીનો ઉપવાસ કર્યો હોય, પણ એનું શાસ્ત્રીય મહત્વ પૂછો તો એને પોતાને પ્રશ્ન થઇ જાય.. મારું માનવું છે કે જયારે આવું હોય ત્યારે એવી ભક્તિ કદાચ ભવિષ્યમાં પડી પણ ભાંગે ખરી.. કારણ કે જો એના પોતાના મનમાં પ્રશ્ન થાય ત્યારે બની શકે કે એને જ જવાબ ના મળે. ભારતની મોટા ભાગની વસ્તી આવી જ ભક્તિ કરતી હોય છે.. તેમનાં માટે શાસ્ત્રો એ પૂજન માટે જ બનેલા હોય છે.. ધર્મ અને જીવનનાં રહસ્યો સમજવા નહિ.. અને આનો મોટો લાભ ઢોંગી ધુપ્પલ ચલાવનાર અને ચમત્કારો બતાવનારાઓ લઇ લેતા હોય છે.
આથી ગમે તે ક્ષેત્ર હોય, પછી તે - ધર્મ હોય, શિક્ષણ હોય, રાજકીય પક્ષ હોય, કુટુંબ હોય, દરેક વખતે માનવીએ પોતે શું કરે છે અને એ કેમ કરે છે એટલા સત્યને તો જાણવું જ રહ્યું. તેનાથી સૌથી મોટો ફાયદો એ થશે કે માણસમાં પોતાના મનમાં એ પોતાના જ કાર્ય કે ધર્મને વિષે વિશેષ માન થશે અને એને હજુ યથાર્થ પાળવાનું બળ મળશે.
ગાંધીજીની અડગ નિષ્ઠાનું પણ મને એ જ મુખ્ય પરિબળ લાગ્યું.. કે એમણે પોતાના દરેક નિર્ણયો અને સંકલ્પોને “સત્યનારાયણ”ની સાક્ષીમાં ચકાસ્યા હતા.. અને પછી જ એ ગ્રહણ કાર્ય હતા..
૨. ગાંધીજીની બીજી મને સૌથી પ્રિય બાબત છે તેમનો સંયમ. જે સુક્ષ્મ હદે તેમણે દરેક વસ્તુમાં સંયમનું પાલન કર્યું હતું તે ખરેખર પ્રશંસનીય ગણી શકાય.. હા, તેમનાં અમુક પ્રયોગોને હું થોડા હદ બહારનાં જરૂર ગણાતો હતો અને ગણું છું. પરંતુ ખોરાક પર તેમણે મેળવેલો સંયમ ખરેખર અદભૂત હતો. કોઈ પણ યોગી માટે તેની રસના ઇન્દ્રિયને વશ કરવી એ સૌથી કઠણ કામ છે. અને ગાંધીજીના એ દિશામાં પ્રયત્નો ખરેખર સરાહનીય ગણવા રહ્યા.
તેઓ જાણતા હતા કે કોઈ પણ વિષયમાં મનના વૈરાગ્ય સિવાય માત્ર ભૌતિક ત્યાગ કોઈ ફળ ન આપે. તેમણે આ માટે સદ્. નિષ્કુળાનંદ સ્વામીના કીર્તનની કડી પણ વર્ણવી છે..
“ત્યાગ ન ટકે વૈરાગ્ય વિના”
માત્ર ભૌતિક ત્યાગ જ નહિ આત્મિક વૈરાગ્યની ખરી જરૂર છે..
ખેર, હજુ તો ઘણું બધું કેહવાનું છે પરંતુ હવે રાતના ૧૦.૫૫ થયા છે એટલે બંધ કરું છું.. વધુ કાલે લખીશ.
અને હા, આ પોસ્ટ ગુજરાતીમાં લખવાનું કારણ એ જ, ખુદ ગાંધીજીનો ગુજરાતી પ્રેમ છે. એટલે એમના વિષે તો ગુજરાતીમાં જ લખવું ઘટે.
Monsoon Express
To God,
This pic of street lamp was taken by me on my visit to Delhi last week while walking down the Rajpath.. Found it very interesting to paste down the my favourite self-written poem.. Kind of fusion of two of my prominent hobbies.. Photography and writing..:)
Random
Hi frends..
Writing this post after relatively longer time gap.. Two months almost.. At first i was busy with my CA Final exams which ended on 17th of May and then, with GMCS Training at Ahmedabad.. After that, also made a trip to Akshardham, New Delhi last week.
There is nothing on mind as of now to share with u.. Just waiting eagerly for results.. And even dont want to think anything.. not even the results..
The trip to Akshardham was really good to peace up my mind and soul.. I learned to kind of stop back and have a broad look at things i've been doing in my life from in-and-out.. Finding my tune of life these days.. Hope i learn it sooner as it's the high time now..
Today is the 26th Marriage Anniversary of Mom and Dad.. They completed 25 years together.. They've taken leave for this and i m at home as always i usually m these months.. So me too joining their happiness.. Hope i can mulitply their joys next month with results..
Jai Swaminarayan..
TC.
Regards,
Parth
That Sinking Feeling
Why it happens that wen we dont get sumthing which we have made so-called "sole object" of our life, we start hating all other good things/persons we already have around us.. That time, no body and nothing can make us happy.. That temporary anger or agony of not having/being something makes us so much weaker and probably meaner.. We even forget the fact that we have got many gr8 things except that.. and also that there are many ppl in the world who r living in a hell darker then we live into..
If you are a ranker and still u dnt get the job u desired, u'll feel like hell.. that time, why one cant think that he actually g
ot sumwhere where all his fellow students wished to.. at that time, only that "lack of desired job" supersedes everything.. every other joy.. this happens with all.. a ranker or a last bencher.. we all want sumthing and wen we dont get that sumthing, all sweet things sound bitter.. We start blaming ourself.. our near ones and even God at times.. the world just seems meaner everyday...
That temporary depression (or watever u call it) shuts our eyes to such an extent that we knowingly turn ourselves off from all the other good things.. And that does nothing except dragging us more into that deep well of darkness and failure..
It's too tough to get out of this.. Not only for us, but for the people around us too.. Our best wishers.. But to remain positive is the only one way to get out.. And that is the only thing one should be doing.. But it's too difficult.. coz u've 86400 seconds in a day and u dnt knw at which second, a negative thought will take over ur mind.. Who would u fight in such situation?? What would u do?? Will u try to conquer urself from negative thoughts or will u try to conquer the outside situation?? The fact is one has to do both and eventually losses himself around...
Cant find a way to this endless ocean of black.. Sorry my frnds..
--
Regards,
Parth Dave
http://caparth.blogspot.com
Don't Ever Give Up!
There is nothing in all the world
so satisfying
as a task well done.
**
There is
no reward so pleasing
as that which comes with
the mastery of a difficult problem.
Shree Hari Jayanti.. 24th March
પ્રગટ થયા પ્રભુ છપૈયા ગામ રે
ભક્તિ માતા, ધર્મ તાતનું નામ રે
કૌશળ દેશમાં ધર્યો અવતાર રે
નોમ અજવાળી, રૂડો ચૈતર માસ રે
તેડાવો જોષી ને પૂછાવો નામ રે
નામ ધર્યું રૂડું શ્રી ઘનશ્યામ રે
મુખડું શોભે અતિ બાલુડે વેશ રે
સુંદર ભુરા માથે નાના શા કેશ રે
હરખે ઝૂલાવે માતા દૂધ-સાકર પાય રે
માતાને મન વ્હેલા કેમ મોટા થાય રે
રડતા રમાડતા પારણીયે પોઢાડે રે
રેશમી દોરી લઇ હીચકાવે રે
પોઢો પોઢો પ્રભુ જગના આધાર રે
પ્રેમાનંદ નિત્ય નવી લીલા ગાયે રે
- પ્રેમાનંદ સ્વામી
Childhood memories.. :)
I can still recall myself cramming this poem lyk anything in school.. :) :) Those days such things were the herculean tasks for me..
રીંછ એકલું ફરવા ચાલ્યું, હાથમાં લીધી સોટી;
સામે રાણા સિંહ મળ્યા રે, આફત આવી મોટી.
ઝૂકી ઝૂકી ભરી સલામો, બોલ્યું મીઠાં વેણ :
‘મારે ઘેર પધારો, રાણા ! રાખો મારું કહેણ.
હાડચામડાં બહુ બહુ ચૂંથ્યાં, ચાખોજી મધ મીઠું;
નોતરું દેવા ખોળું તમને, આજે મુખડું દીઠું !’
રીંછ જાય છે આગળ, એના પગ ધબધબ,
સિંહ જાય છે પાછળ, એની જીભ લબલબ.
‘ઘર આ મારું, જમો સુખેથી, મઘથી લૂમેલૂમ’
ખાવા જાતાં રાણાજીએ પાડી બૂમેબૂમ !
મધપૂડાનું વન હતું એ, નહીં માખોનો પાર;
બટકું પૂડો ખાવા જાતાં વળગી લારોલાર !
આંખે, મોઢે, જીભે, હોઠે ડંખ ઘણેરા લાગ્યા;
‘ખાધો બાપ રે !’ કરતાં ત્યાંથી વનરાજા તો ભાગ્યા.
રીંછ એકલું ફરવા ચાલ્યું, હાથમાં લીધી સોટી;
સામે રાણા સિંહ મળ્યા’તા, આફત ટાળી મોટી !
Random
Everything is possible if we have desire for it.. To change future, we must change our present... Coz "now" is the only thing we have control over.. Patience always have sweet fruits.. Never change the righteous path.. The character of a person is measured by how he stood in his difficult times.. The more u suffer, the more ur chances of success.. The intensity of striving increases the pain for the time but it increases the joy of achievement in multi folds of pain afterwards.. God's always seeing u.. Always with u.. And we have no right to make Him disappointed.. :) :)
Today i'll be leaving within an hour to A'bad for my IDT Test.. Dont know why but felt like typing all this.. May be i'll feel proud of myself after 3-4 years when i'll read this.. And will understand whatever i wud have earned that tym, how i've earned it..
Child then, child always..
Just randomly remembering that sense of achievement i used to feel after completing those lengthy homeworks.. It was "the" feeling... :) :) Felt lyk a superhero conquering some tough mission..:) Childhood.. Still remember those self motivating thoughts i used to "develop" in my mind at midnight when there was lots of writings to do.. that requesting to God madly, innocently and more often worryingly and that too as like talking wit some frnd.. and when i look at those days of that time and then today, i feel i'll be a child always.. :)
4 Golden words..
This
too
shall
pass..
:)
No other comments on today's blog post.. This four words say a lot..
Gujarati ma blogging..:)
આ તો બેઠા બેઠા થયું કે ચાલો મારું બેટું ગુજરાતી માં બ્લોગ્ગિંગ કરીએ.. એટલે આ લખવા બેઠો.. ભલું થાજો આ google વાળાનું.. Unicode માં ગુજરાતી type કરવા દે છે.. સરસ સરસ.. આમ તો અત્યારે tension તો બહુ છે સાલું વાંચવાનું.. આ મે મહિનામાં પરીક્ષા છે ને પાછી.. પણ શું કે આવા અવનવા અખતરા કરવાની તો આપણને પહેલે થી જ આદત છે ને.. બીજી તો કશી નવા જૂની નથી..
ગયા સોમવારે સારંગપુરમાં ફૂલદોલનો ઉત્સવ કર્યો.. બહુ મજા આવી.. સ્વામીએ પણ બહુ સુખ આપ્યું.. જો કે એ તો પાત્રતા જોયા વિના વરસે જ છે ને અઢળક.. પણ આપણે તો લાખ મણ લોઢું ધખેલું હોય તે આ એક દિવસ માં થોડું ટાઢું થાય.. પણ એટલે આ તો આપણ ને ક્યારેક એવું થઇ જાય કે ભાઈ આ સામું કેમ નથ જોતા..:) પણ ચાલ્યા કરે.. ક્યારેક તો ઠંડક થવાની છે.. આજે સ્વામી સભામાં ૩૦ મિનીટ વહેલા પધાર્યા હતા... સભામાં ત્યારે હજુ પણ તાપ હતો અને બાપા પર પણ પડતો હતો.. નારાયણમુની સ્વામી જાહેરાતમાં એની વાત કરી.. ત્યારે બાપા કહે, "તાપ તો ક્યારેક લાગે અને પછી તો ઠંડક ઠંડક થઇ જાય.. જીવનમાં તો એ જ ક્રમ છે.. ધીરજના ફળ મીઠા મીઠા ને મીઠા.." મને લાગ્યું કે સ્વામીશ્રીએ જાણે આ મને જ ના કહ્યું હોય..!! અને ત્યાર બાદ રંગોત્સવ માં તો હું પૂરી ૬૦- ૭૦ મિનીટ સુધી બાજુ પર ઉભો રહી ને રંગાયા જ કરતો હતો.. પાણી નો ફોર્સ સહન ન થાય તો મોઢું ઢાંકી દેવાનું અને શ્વાસ લેવાનો તો સવાલ જ ના ઉભો થાય.. પણ તોય પિચકારી સામેથી હટવાનું તો નહિ જ..:) હજુ સાત દિવસ પછી પણ મારા ચશ્મા પરથી કેસુડાંનો કલર જતો નથી...!! પણ સારું જ છે ને... એ બહાને આખી દુનિયા સ્વામીશ્રી ના રંગે રંગાયેલી જોવા મળે છે દુન્યવી આંખોને..
બીજું તો હવે આપણે થોડા ઠેકાણે પડ્યા છીએ.. CS ની exam ના positive રીઝલ્ટ પછી જરા વાંચવાનું મન થાય છે.. હજુ બીજા ૬૪ દિવસ સંભાળી લેવાનું છે.. વાંધો નહિ.. ભગવાન છે ને સાથે..:) આ પાછુ આ શુક્રવારથી IPL નું તુત શરુ થાય છે.. પણ આપણે તો ભાઈ નક્કી કર્યું છે કે એક પણ મેચ આ વખતે જોવાની નથી... એના પછી પાછુ ICC World T20 આવશે... પણ એ પણ નહિ જોવામાં આવે.. છો ને સચિન ને ખોટું લાગે.. પણ મારું બેટું કેહવું પડે.. સચિન રમે છે જોરદાર.. અલ્યા ૨૦૦ રન ઠોકી ગયો સાઉથ આફ્રિકા સામે... અમારી શેરી ક્રિકેટની ભાષા માં કહીએ તો જબરી ખેતી કરાઈ બિચારાઓને.. ખી ખી..
મજા આવે છે ગુજરાતી માં લખવાની.. પણ હવે કઈ હું નવરો થોડો છું કે લખ્યા કરું.. અને તમેય થોડા વાંચ્યા કરવાના છો...
ચાલો જય સ્વામિનારાયણ..
Wanna get back to that time..
Wanna go back 2 d time when
"getting high" meant "on a swing"
when "drinking" meant "apple juice",
when "dad" was d only "HERO" in my life,
when "LOVE" was "mom's hug" 2 me
when "dad's shoulder" was d "highest place on d earth",
when my "worst enemy" was my "little sis"
when d only thing dat cud "hurt" me were "skinned knees"
when d things "broken" were only "toys" &
when "gudbyes" only meant "till tomorrow" !!!!!
A nice prayer..
Cleared CS Final
I cleared CS Final this 25th February..
Busy with CA Final preparations..
So blogging less..:)
Gift of Life!
Remember this every time.!
शैले शैले न मानिक्यम मौक्तिकं न गजे गजे
साधवो न ही सर्वत्र चंदनम न वने वने
[Not every mountain contains jewels, not every elephant has pearls। Saintly people are not ubiquitous, nor there is sandaalvood in every forest]
Vasant Panchami
20th Jan., 2010
Vasant Panchami.
This is one of the most auspicious days of the year probably with the number of events falling on it.. Signifies the onset of spring. It holds a special significance, since, on this day Bhagwan Swaminarayan presented the 'Shikshapatri' in its final form. It is also the birthday of Brahmanand Swami, Nishkulanand Swami and Brahmaswarup Shastriji Maharaj (founder of the BAPS). And also date wise, it's the date when Mulji Sharma initiated into sadhu-fold. Named Gunatitanand Swami, exactly before 200 years.
But even on this auspicious day, i know, my condition is worse. May be today or tomorrow is my last day at office.. Now the biggest problem is, what next?? What for next four-five months... At least, what in February and March??.. Coz the loneliness only makes oneself weaker..And m not only a loner but also a struggler, a dreamer, a fallen and what not... this is the time when one's inner strength is measured.. I hope at least Maharaj and Swami are on my side.. (And They make me feel that...)
And "probably" i m not writing this blog post for anyone.. i m writing it for myself.. so that after 5 years or so, i can understand whatever i have then, how i have achieved it.
Jai Swaminarayan..
:|
A new morning after results.. As i begin to get into normalcy of routine, the pain starts increasing.. Today got up to an call from one of the office's senior CA members asking abt me.. And instantly i realised how my next few days or probably weeks or months are going to be..
Yaar.. When u fail, the next thing which comes to your mind is next attempt... and immediately, ur mind asks u, what if same thing happens then also? And it's unbearable.. Why me?..
સમય એક સરસ મજાનો આવશે,
સમય એક સરસ મજાનો આવશે,
તને શોધતો એ છાનો-માનો આવશે,
દુનિયા ની કીર્તિ જોઇને દુખ ના કર મિત્ર,
આપણો પણ એક દિવસ જમાનો આવશે...
સમય એક સરસ મજાનો આવશે,
P.S.:
HaPPy nEw yEaR...!!!
Office blogger..:)
Wow. for the first time m writing a blog from office... feel awkard to use office comp for blog... actually these days, office has become boring lyk nvr befor.. with most of the frnds leaving it.. today, there are no old pals like urvi, jaimin, sanjay here at office.. all are either on leave, have left or on audit... : :(
Okey... so wat shall i type here to roll my tym till 5.30?? hmm... lemme describe the office enviro.. it's pal.. lyk full of morrons.. who 've nthng to do in lyf but just to live.. and i m helplessly trying to pass remaining 2 odd weeks of my articleship anyhow with them here.. it's an awkward situation.. facing the pre-result blues and at the same tym missing the fun and support of frnds..:( but, it's lyf after all... even the nearby Uttarayan seems to have lost it’s charm..
Even after-office hours are not so exciting these days.. going home around 6 in the evening and then realising that there are still 6 hours to pass before sleeping.. oh no... and condition during the weekends is even worse.. today, the last thing on To Do list is to go for my eye check... may be i'll be writing my other posts after this in glasses..:)
Planning to buy a new phone... most probably the Samsung Omnia Pro.. the one with QWERTY key pad.. may be till next weekend.. so may be I write next post with glasses on and with my phone..:) sounds cool isn’t it..:) saw Avatar and 3 Idiots last week.. both are good with their own genres.. the later being bit extra melodramatic... nywys.. will have to sign off for now.. got some work to do.. bye frnds.. tc..
Jai Swaminarayan
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