Very Inspiring / Versatile Blogger Awards

 

Blogging is treating me quite well. It’s been around 6 months since I started my blog and since then I made lot of blogger friends.  With blogging we get to know the persons behind the content, their thoughts, their feelings, their skills. It’s true – bloggers share the thoughts on their blog which they don’t even share with their closed ones.  Though I never personally met any of my blogger friends, but the kind of relationship we share is very deep, very strong.

Continuing with my blogging journey so far, I feel super excited and humble at the same time after getting nominated (in Jan, 2015) for ‘Very Inspiring Blogger Award’ from my blogger friend Abhijit Bangal on his Blogpost. Abhijit writes very interesting posts for technology and Internet Marketing topics. Thanks Abhijit for nomination.  As I mentioned in your blog, it means a lot and motivates me to write more meaningful posts.

Came Feb and I got another nomination for ‘Versatile Blogger Award’ from my close IndiBlogger friend Shveta Dave on her blog. Shweta writes for SunShineAndZephyr. She has mastered the art of writing super creative posts of fiction. Like many other readers, I regularly read all her blog posts. I admire her for being Numero Uno in her field of writing. Some of her blog posts including ‘The Verdict’, ‘Unison’, ‘Soulmate’ are just tremendous to read. I thank Shweta once again for nominating me for this award. Really means a lot.

As per the rules, I need to mention 7 things about me. Here you go:

1) I have been working in the field of Digital Marketing from last 10 years.  I am passionate about my work. However I do think that work-life balance is very important and should not be ignored.

2) I have deep belief in Supreme Being.  For me, one can find GOD everywhere – be it Nature, Music, reading a book, eating food, sleeping under bright sunshine, playing with kids, enjoying rain…..everywhere hint of GOD. It is up to us to identify it and thank for everything we have got.

3) Though I haven’t traveled much, but I really like exploring new cultures, new places, take learnings from their way of life. Traveling for me is not just a break from work Or a leisure activity but also an opportunity to enhance my knowledge, to broaden my view about different things. 

4) For me, a person is always a student. There is no end of learning/knowledge. Every moment teaches you a lot. At the same time, all these learnings are in vain if we cannot apply it in our daily life. It’s very much like we are eating but not enjoying our food. While learning is lifelong process, but sometime it also gets important to share our learning with others i.e. to become teacher sometime and help other people with our learning. 

5) I like Book Reading a lot. I was first introduced to a book ‘The Alchemist’ and since then I developed a great interest in reading books. Now-a-days I am reading ‘Awakening India’ by Swami Vivekanand. Next in line is ‘Thousand Splendid Suns’ by Khalid Hosseni. 

6) I would like to contribute for the welfare of society and want to help my country through my skill set.  I know my area of expertise (IT field) and I would like to use them to do something for the society. I have some plans and I am quite hopeful that I will be able to implement my ideas in near future.

7) Topics in my blog are mainly related to those situations which give us some learning from simple life facts. I really like “Talking Tour” series of my blog which gives me the opportunity to interact with different people and get to know their thoughts about certain topics. I am thankful to my friend Akum who introduced me to IndiBlogger.

Now for the 15 blogs which I would like to nominate for this award are these:

01) Meenal Sonal for Auraofthoughts

02) Parul Thakur for HappinessAndFood.wordpress.com

03) Shreedhar Bhattaram for Reflecting on Life

04) Vinay Nagaraju For inspire99.com

05) Indrani Ghose for isharethese.blogspot.in

06) Sunil Deepak for ChayaChitrakaar

07) Ami for YearFullofHolidays

08) Mehreen Shaikh for ObscureUnnecessaryDrama

09) Kiran Sahu for  HamariSafalta.com

10) Indrani Ghose for FrozenMoments

11) Debajyoti Ghosh for FactsAndNonsense.com

12) Renuka for Renuka-VoyagerforLife

13) Arti for MyYatraDiary.com

14) Alok for iNewsIndia.com

15) Jatin for WanderingJatin

While there are other wonderful blogs which I read on daily basis, but due to rule constraint I have to restrict myself to only 15. Congratulations to every blogger! Let's keep the good work of appreciation going on. My request to all nominated bloggers to follow the Very Inspiring Blogger Award Rules as follows:

- Display the Award on your Blog.

- Notify back to the Blogger who nominated you.

- Say 7 points about you.

- Nominate 15 Bloggers for the Award, link them and inform them about the nominations.

Happy Blogging!!

VIP Movement on Delhi Road

Click taken during VIP movement on busy Delhi Road. Traffic stalled for over 10 minutes and I decided to capture this moment. See, they blocked both sides of the road. No one was allowed to walk over towards that direction, not even pedestrians because of security reasons.

Will the newly elected government in Delhi put an end to VIP culture as they advertise (and at what level it is required)? Question to answer. We will wait and watch.

Nature: Winter Showers in the City

It's been raining today since 3AM in the morning. This has resulted temperature dipped significantly. Certainly 'Delhi ki Sardi' is maintaining its unpredictable character.

Teachings From Mahabharata

It’s around 1 am last night and I just recollected the thought that I have 10GB internet still remaining for the month. I was thinking to utilize this net pack by watching couple of episodes of BR Chopra’s Mahabharat on Youtube. Though I have seen entire series twice, but still watching some of the episodes to bring back some learning which we apply for some time (after watching some inspirational program) and then forget about it.  I have been a big fan of BR Chopra’s Mahabharat & Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan serials. Both of these programs are full of teachings and one can extract lot of learning after understanding the gist. In this post, I will mention about certain events from epic Mahabharata which inspire us and give us some learning which we can apply in our daily life.

Every coin has two sides. While we can question certain characters for their action, but in this post, I would like to point out positive aspect of certain characters, which give us some teachings/learnings and thus motivate us to apply them in our life.

Respect your parents, care for them

Son of Shantanu and Ganga, grand uncle of Pandavas & Kauravas, Bhishma was a great warrior and an ace archer. Originally named as Devavrat, he was famous and known as Bhishma after he took the oath bhishama pratigya — that he will not marry in his life and till the time he lives, will serve to whoever sat on the throne of his father (the throne of Hastinapur).  This is a great oath taken by a son to show his commitment and responsibilities towards parents, especially in an unavoidable crisis.

Learning  – Although many can question that being a prince, was it justified to take this kind of oath? With this oath, the country was deprived of a skilful king who could have done really well for the country, had he became the king, instead of King’s savior.

 However, for me I take this learning - always pay respect to your parents. All wealth, all charity is of no-use if your parents are not happy.  For this, you need not to take any terrible oath but an oath that you will make them happy by dedicating time to them. If there is any disagreement then talk politely and make them realize your point. Parents always wish for our success. Their blessings will make the way of our progress.

Always love your country

Bhisma took this oath so that his father, Shantanu could marry a fisherwoman Satyavati — Satyavati's father had refused to give his daughter's hand to Shantanu on the grounds that his daughter's children would never be rulers. This made Devavrata to take the vow of lifelong celibacy thus sacrificing ‘crown-prince’ title. He also took an oath of always see his father image in whosoever sit on the throne of Hastinapur, thus serve him all his life.

When Shantanu got to know about this terrible oath, his heart melt and he granted him the boon of Ichcha Mrityu (control over his own death).

In war, when Bhishma was on his death bed of arrows, he declared that he will not die until he sees his country Hastinapur is secured from everywhere and that is possible only when it has a true king. Later when Kauravas lost the battle and Yudhishtira became the king, Bhisma Pitamah took his last breath upon realizing that now Hastinapur was in safe hands under the rule of King Yudhisthira. No words for such act of love for the country.

Learning –  This gives us the teaching to always love your country. Put country interest above your own interest. Never think what country has given us, because we are nonentities to understand what a country means to the citizens. Always think what we can give to the country (or society).  Another instance from Mahabharata when Karna asks Krishna why he is not being ranked as better warrior than Arjuna? To this Lord Krishna replied that “you have always thought of taking revenge from Arjuna.   You gathered all sorts of skills and arts but you never used them for the wellbeing of society. This means that we as an educated person should serve the society first for whatever mean is possible. Whatever education we have got, whatever skills we have learned, we should use them for the wellbeing of our country/society. 

Don’t make promise which you cannot fulfill

It’s easy to make promise but difficult to keep.  We have a very good example in Mahabaharat to explain this. During their study days, Drupad a prince and Dronacharya a commoner became such good friends. One day, Drupad (in a lighter mode) promised to Drona that when he becomes king, he will share half of his kingdom with Drona.  However when they grew up, Drupad changed his stand and often mocked Drona in his court. This caused estrangement between the two, which turned out to be a life long battle.

Learning – Never make a promise which you think you can cannot keep (or fulfill). This is also a very good management lesson. Often we have seen employees are being given false promise of good appraisal, promotion for short term gain. When these promises are not fulfilled, it result in employee dissatisfaction which further affect work quality. 

Don’t take sides. Be impartial

A great episode with full of teachings when Yaksha asks number of questions and Yudhishtir answers each one of them with full devotion and clear mind. After answering all the questions, Yudhishthira is asked as to which of his four brothers he would wish to be brought back to life. He chooses Nakula.   When Yaksha ask him why he choose Nakula, he answered – that out of five pandavas, three of them (Yudhishtir, Arjun and Bheem) are born to Kunti and two (Nakul and Sahdev)  are born to Madri. With Yudhishthir, Kunti has one son alive, so let Madri also has one son alive so that both mothers are partially bereaved. Pleased at this, Yaksha revives all the four remaining brothers.

Learning – This gives us the learning that we should not be partial when the onus of justice or decision making is on us. We should be rational in our approach and instead of thinking what others will think; we should take decision from mind not from heart. Being impartial is not easy, but it’s a sign of mature person and a true leader. 

Be passionate of your dream if you want to achieve it

Eklavya was born in tribal family and very passionate about learning archery. When he approached Drona and requested him to teach him archery in Gurukul the way he used to teach to Pandavas & Kauravas.  However, as Eklavya belonged to the lower castes, he was denied access to Drona's mentorship.  But Eklavya was so dedicated and passionate about learning archery from Drona that created an image of Drona and took the image as his guru monitoring and inspiring him. He used to practice the arts of Drona in front of Drona's image. When guru Drona used to teach Pandavas & Kauravas in Gurukul, Eklavya used to hide behind trees and watch him teaching boys from Royal family. Such was his passion that he actually learned the trade of archery from his guru, without his teacher teaching him. Eventually he became so skilled in archery that guru Drona felt that Eklavya could well be regarded as greatest archer than his best disciple Arjuna and with this insecurity he asked for Eklavya right hand thumb as part of dakshina.

Learning – This episode of Eklavya teaches us the value of being passionate about our Goals. If we are passionate and dedicated to our goal, it will lead the way of goal accomplishment. Important to note that being passionate doesn’t mean to continuously think about it all the time, but to act on it (like Eklavya did) and work so hard to make it reality.

Don’t always criticize

When Shishupal, son of King of Chedi, born with three eyes and four arms, his parents wanted to cast him out, but an announcement stopped them. The announcement stated that his features of extra third eye and two arms will be disabled when a certain person took this child into his lap and the same person will eventually kill Shishupal.  Such was the writing by destiny that it was Krishna who placed the child into his lap and the extra eye and arms disappeared and it was destined that Shishupal will be killed by Krishna later.  However, upon Shishupal’s mother request, Krishna promised her that he would pardon his cousin Shishupal a hundred times per day and he will kill him when he exceeds the limit.

Later when Yudhishthira organized Rajsuya Yagya, Shishupal insulted not only Krishna but Bhishma as well. He scolded Krishna as a cowherd and worthless to be honored as a king. He also challenged Pandavas and Krishna for war.  Listening to all this, Krishna smiled at him and warned him when he crossed the limit of 100^th time insult. But Shishupal ignored the warning and kept on the verbal abuse. To this, Krishna released his sudarshana disc and it flew at Shishupala and dismembered his head.

Learning – Shishupal episode teaches us that we should not always criticize. If we keep on criticizing someone and if that person is listening, after sometime he will retaliate because there is a limit of everything. If Lord could not bear the continual verbal insult, how can we expect mortals like us to be patient and listen all insult directed at us. In our family my mother always says “apni ijjat apne haath”. So don’t push any person to that extent that he will lose his patience and retaliate against your continuous jibe at him.

Although when we think about penning down teachings of Mahabharata, one post is not sufficient. I will try to cover the other teachings in some posts later on. Let me know what are views about teachings of Mahabharat. I am sure we can learn lot more than above mentioned. It’s a plethora of knowledge. 

2015 – Year of long weekends

In year 2014, we have seen couple of long weekends from August month onward. However, if 2014 was year of holidays then 2015 is certainly the year with long weekends. If you want to plan some travel trips or family/group outing, just spend some time in looking at 2015 calendar.  With some planning & couple of days off in between, we can get as many as 58 days off work in 2015, besides the regular weekends.

Considering those who works 5 days a week (like me), this year we have 7 three days weekend when a festival is scheduled either start or end of the weekend. These festivals include:

Republic Day – Monday 26th Jan 2015, means long weekend from 24th Jan (Saturday), 25th Jan (Sunday) and 26th Jan

Holi – Thursday 5th March 2015. Take a leave on 6th March (Friday) and you have a long weekend for you.

Good Friday – 3rd April (obviously Friday). Another long weekend.

Baisakhi/Ambedkar Jayanti – Tuesday 14th April. A leave on Monday will make long weekend.

Gandhi Jayanti – Friday 2nd October. 

Dussehra – Thursday 22nd October. Take Friday off to make the most of this weekend. 

Diwali Bonanza

Here if you have the capacity to take leave on Monday & Tuesday, 9th & 10th Nov (with previous Saturday & Sunday) then you can really make it an extended long weekend. Here is how: 

Diwali – Wed 11th Nov

Gowardhan Pooja - Thursday 12th Nov

Bhai dooj – Friday 13th Nov & then Saturday, Sunday. Makes it a bumper long weekend. Those who wish to go to their hometowns for Diwali can convert it into a nine-day holiday, as the days of festivities are sandwiched between the weekends.

Christmas – In December, Id-e-Milad and Christmas are scheduled on consecutive days 24th (Thursday) and 25th December (Friday) and then you have Saturday & Sunday (off). 

For those who usually get just the Sunday off from work, with as many as five festivals falling on Saturdays in 2015, including :

Vasant panchami -  24th Jan 2015 (Saturday)

Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati Jayanti - 14th Feb 2015 (Saturday)

Gudi Parva – 21st March 2015 (Saturday)

Ram Navami – 28th March 2015 (Saturday)

Independence Day - 15th August (Saturday)

Tulsidas Jayanti – 22 August (Saturday)

Krishna Janamashtami – 5th September (Saturday)

Muharram – 24th October (Saturday)

So whether you have 5 days/week or 6 days/week office, there are enough opportunities to make use of these long weekends. Plan some outing with your family/friends but also make sure work does not affect. :)

Highlights of 2014, Welcome 2015

2014 was a year with lots of new adventures, new learning for me. Like previous years, 2014 was also mix of memories, lots of opportunities - some of them taken while some of them went away without getting much time. However, no complaint at all. If I look back and pen down the highlights of last year, then

1) Solo trip to New York city - In year 2014, I went to New York for 10 days. All those 10 days were full of adventures and lots of travel activities. I explored New York city, visited Brooklyn Bridge, High Line, cruise tour of Statue of Liberty, Central Park, 9-11 Memorial etc. I also visited countryside for 2 days tour which includes sightseeing tour of Thousand Islands, Niagara State George Park, Fort of Niagara and finally epic Niagara Falls. Overall it was a complete fun-filled and an unforgettable experience.

Learning: Since it was my first solo trip, it taught me a lot - about how to plan the trip, how to search for the places to visit in a new city, to make new friends, to learn from other culture, civic sense.

2) Exploring Rajasthan - It's a place which I will be visiting again for sure. Clean roads, amazing Aravalis Mountain Range spread throughout the state, Forts, Havelis, Wildlife, regional food, paintings. No wonder why this place has always attracted people from different parts of world. We want to Sariska Tiger Reserve & Bhangarh Fort. Travel experience in Rajasthan was so good that I am thinking of visiting there again.

Learning - Sariska trip was done with a group where I was known to only 2 persons. Rest 8 of them were stranger. I learned again - if you are good with others, they will also be good with you. 

3) Learned Driving - In 2014, I learned driving. I remember days in early March-April, when I enrolled for Driving course. While attending driving classes, I realized that it's still possible to spare time for other activities. I was able to spare 1 hour from my morning schedule which I thought wasn't possible earlier, but eventually I did find this time slot. It was a good experience to learn the new trade & develop new skill. In year 2015, I am open to enroll myself for any new activity which keeps me ticking and adds the fun factor so that we don't lead to a monotonous life.

4)  English Movies - This is interesting. In 2014, I watched number of English movies on my Nexus Tab.  This activity was part of Effective Business Communication workshop I attended in my office.
Few Good Men , Saving Private Ryan, Behind Enemy Lines, Hunger Games Part 1, Hunger Games Part 2, The Hobbit Part 1, The Hobbit Part 2, Bourne Legacy, Amazing Spider men series, Wolverine series.

Though not a movie buff, but I liked these movies and in year 2015, I have long list of movies to watch.

5) Started my Blog - One of the main highlight of year 2014 was my Blog. I never thought that I will start my blog and update it regularly. However, my NY tour prompted me to start it. Initial reactions were good - I got good response from readers, I made new friends, I learned a lot from other bloggers post and I will mention this honestly - I am liking it. I am able to turn my thoughts into blog post which is a new skill additional. Hope I will continue adding new stuff to my blog and add value to each blog post.

I read some other blog posts as well where bloggers have mentioned their experiences of year 2014. In all those posts, I found one thing common - that they all experience new things, travel to new destinations and thus became more mature as a person.

Today is first day of New Year 2015 which is full of opportunities, full of hope. While checking messages in my mobile for new year message, I got one very good from one of my very good friend. I would like to share with my readers and want to wish every one a Great New Year 2015.

Lovely Message only for those who can understand the essence:

"Whether you have a Maruti or a BMW, the road remains the same.

 Whether you travel economy class or business, your destination doesn't change.
Whether you have a Titan or a Rolex, the time is the same.
Whether you Apple, Samsung or Lava, people who call you remains the same.

There is nothing wrong in dreaming a luxurious life.

What needs to be taken care of is it not let the NEED become your GREED.
Because needs can always be met; but greed can never be fulfilled.

Short lines with million dollar meaning :- 
The life that you are living now, is also a dream of millions!!...

Praise God for what you have, live a satisfactory life. 
Wish you a fabulous New Year 2015 ahead"

Talking Tours (3) - Gaurav Anand

In the 3rd installment of Talking Tours, I met Gaurav Anand, from Dehradun who wholeheartedly agrees to give us an interview. Gaurav is an avid traveler who wants to live life to the fullest. During interview, he discussed everything in detail and made me understand his point of view on different topics. It's good to know thoughts of different people - what they think on various topics, what keeps them ticking. May be there is a learning for us somewhere in these thoughts.

Talking Tour is a series of personal interviews about those who does posses thoughts of their own. By interacting with different people and to know their thoughts, gives me a good feeling. Every one has a story to tell. Each one of us, has some attributes which are unique some times and common most often.

Tell our readers something about yourself.
Fun loving, a traveler by heart who wants to explore world.  I love to experience and experiment new things  - be it new trend, new place, food or anything.

What is in your personality which you like the most?
My confidence & self belief


What is in your personality which you dislike?
Sometime I find it difficult to say NO even though my heart/mind wants to say NO.


What are the qualities in a man which you like?
I like those, who not only wants to enjoy each day, but also each and every moment of life.


What are the qualities in a woman which you like?
Determination & Self Respect


What places you have traveled so far? What is your favorite place & why?
I am a big time traveler. I have been to many places in India & abroad.  My list is long, however I might have missed few places in this list. Hope you also like that:

In North I have visited - Jammu, Kashmir valley, Pehlgaon, Mussorrie, Nainital, Dharamshala, Jamta, Chail, Chandigarh, .

Central India - Agra, Bhopal, Panchmari

Northeast - Gangtok, Darjeeling, Peiling, Kalinpong

Southwest Part - Munnar, Thekri, Allepy, Kovalam, Mumbai, Lonavala, Goa

Western India - Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Jaipur, Pushkar

Abroad - I have visited Singapore, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Pataya, Krabi

Religious Places: Haridwar, Mathura, Rishikesh, Chintpoorni Devi, Naina Devi, Jwala ji, Shirdi, Vaishno Devi

My favorite picks:
In India, I would like to visit Munnar again because of the breathtakingly beautiful locations there. It's a haven of peace and tranquility - the idyllic tourist destination. A must visit place in India.

Abroad, I like Krabi. Very neat and clean beaches, awesome weather, coastal cuisines & not to forget - Water Sports.


Which place you have traveled recently and how was the experience?
I visited Rajasthan very recently and there we have gone to places like Jaisalmer, Jodhpur etc.

Experience was great. Can't forget the sunset point at Jaisalmer, forts in Udaipur and lot of other things to appreciate for.


Can you name some of your favorite hangout places in the city you live in?
Delhi Heights café & Golas in Gurgaon.


Are you a foody? Which food you liked the most?
Yes I am.
Punjabi by nature, however I am more fond of Rajma Chawal, Chinese, continental, Mughlai cuisines.


Tell us something about your hobbies?
In spare time, I watch TV. Other hobbies include, travel, exploring new places


If not in your current role, what would you want to be?
Would have been visual merchandiser OR Wine Taster, Food Reviewer, Movie critic.


How you cope up pressure situation?
I don’t take pressure much. I just take life as it comes. When in pressure situation, I tell myself, whatever is in my destiny I will get. So no need to crib on something, but always give your best shot.


What is your mantra of life?
God has given us only one life. Enjoy each day & live every moment. I like the song from old Golmal movie - "Aaaney wala kal jaane wala hai, ho sake to ismein jindagi bita do, pal ye jo jaane wala hai"


How you start your day?
Not a morning person, my morning starts a little late around 9 am. Well I look at my daughters face & thank god for everything.


Who is your reel life hero/heroines?
Anil Kapoor - He doesn't look like someone in mid 50s. He still looks young. His energy and enthusiasm to do things differently (like recent TV show - 24 series) is something to appreciate.

Next in line is Kirron Kher. I admire her for her persona, self-confidence. She entered quite late in movies but she made her mark in no time.


Which character in history (or current life) inspire you the most?
Yes, I want to mention a friend of mine (Neeraj Tiwari) whom I really admire.  Whatever he has done in his life, he has done himself. I regard him for his hard work, his dedication, his enthusiasm and his zeal to achieve something in life.


Your favorite movies/shows?
TV Shows - BIG Boss, India's got Talent, Sara Bhai Vs. Sara Bhai, Two & Half men
Movies - No entry, Devdas, 3 idiots, 2 States


What do you think are the biggest areas for improvement in our country?
It's high time that we need to change our thinking. Whatever we have learnt as part of our education, we need to apply the same in our thinking. Fact of the matter is, we should be broad minded - open to adopt new thinking, give respect to women, have civic sense. All these things we have learnt in our school/college days, but are we applying it our daily life? This is where we need to put more emphasis. Apply our education into our lifestyle and thus help in making India a developed nation.


Do you cast your vote every time?
Ashamed to say don't have Voter ID. I take an oath that I will definitely vote next time.


Anything which you want to share with readers who read this interview?
Be happy, live tension free enjoy each moment of life. You never know.....'Kal ho na ho'. What ever you want to do, do today.

Thank you Gaurav for sparing some time for this interview. We wish you a Great New Year 2015.