Passion

How  you make your decisions!

Part-2

Passion

There is something special about this word. Yeah! You are right. Its the word that can be directly associated with love. 

In a conversation with a person who is from a research background in education (continuing his research even at the age of 80) quoted me that 

"You mean by passion!? 

'Emotions'- roughly a passion is an emotion strengthened.

 'Love' is an emotion but when you fall in love with someone/something to the point of ignoring everything else it becomes a passion'"

I found it quite right. I hope many can. Because if you take any dictionary, passion would be quoted as feeling or emotion over something or someone, that is so intense and leads to an outburst. Its root is from Old French and Late Latin. (Source: 

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com)

(Eh! People I see you smiling. You could already relate the word to the land of love) 

To the topic now...

How passion can impact any decisions taken by you?

I don't think I am a perfect person to answer that. But, I think I can score a 50/100 in this question. I pass. Hence, I wish to kill you with my answer. And I give you the right to kill me with your marks. 

I wasn't aware that I love writing. It was my personal ecstasy. I never felt anything special about this kind of communication. But, few things I found in me quite different from others were this

1. Whenever I felt down or extremely happy, I wrote. You can ask from when? It was from the age of 14. Yem! Its quite late for the people in this digital era. But, then it was my way of finding out what I wanted to do with my emotions in 'my era'.

2. That I have written two stories and 5 poems about things that really affected my conscience by the age of 17. That counts the works only in my diary. Many of my poems were in papers and it flew from one text book to another and I have had the experience of rescuing them even from the dustbins.

3. "Diaries weren't meant to be shared", my friends said to me. But then, I wanted people to look at my stories. I offered my personal diary (to clarify, it only had my favorite color and all that stuff a 14 year girl could have written) with all the poems and stories to know how they were. 

And finally, when I wasn't ready for anything else at one stage of life (probably, before 6 months), I was ready for this. Writing! Scribbling! and all that. And I think, I even surprise myself sometimes. When I look at what I have written in the past, I couldn't find myself writing it. 

It is not an easy task. When I write, I have the experience of crying in front of the screen of my laptop and wetting my keyboard (sometimes its my sister's laptop and I secretly wipe them out) . I have the experience of smiling and laughing for unknowing reasons, re-reading a single line thousand times, all that could qualify me to be in the list of mentally unstable people.

And that is when, it hit me hard. I was ready to quote and showcase myself crazy and mentally unstable for writing. Only that.

And here I am. 

In your mobile and laptop screens.

Through my words.

Through my passion, I live.

I did not decide it to be this way. But then, it happened. I do not relate my professional life with this kind of love. I love the job I do. But, this is different. This is where I can find and replicate my soul. 

Many people who answered my questions on passion said the same thing, "I do not know where my passion would take me. But, I will follow it". And most of them did not have it as their profession. So what? A person with passion will always live their life passionately, no matter how they earn their money! Its not about the money. Its about the heart.

One of my humble bestie told me that

(Well she earns a sum of money per month that I don't want to mention which everyone of our age die for and she is happier than anybody I know. She is the most passionate person I have ever seen.)

Another one quoted this to me,

Passion on something comes naturally. 
Like a mother's love to a child.
Passion is love, a form that is so unconditional! 
So pure.
And yes, it affects the decisions a lot. We will find a way. Just to pursue our dreams. Passion will drive us to do that, in every way it can. 
Like, a doctor working as an RJ at weekends.
Like, an engineer participating in lake clean-ups every week.
Like, some part of you becoming some other part and it just feels almost yourself.

Passion is life. Burn yourself until you find your ashes burn again for your passion. And it will craft you and your decisions automatically into something you have never imagined to be and that is what even my survey showed. 

[I think I really passed answering the question "How passion can impact any decisions taken by you?"]


Thanks to +Abinaya Govindarajan , +Nandhagiridharan.ng@gmail.com , +Vivek Anand  for answering my questions I asked. You guys are awesome and thanks to all those who filled the survey 3 months before. 

I think I have to talk about Passion more on the perspective of people who have grown old with it. Will see. At least through the quotes from them. Stay reading!

Funding for a cause

"As of now, what's the status in Chennai?"

Someone would post and 

"Yeah dude! Its still raining."

Someone would reply in a comment.

Or

"wats happening there? do you need volunteers?"

"Yes we need sm 15 people to go to Mudichur area. sm1 interested? We have lots f things to provide lik rice, dresses, bedsheets"

"Yes, my friend is there. i ll ask him to ping u n a few mnutes wit sm area guys."

The first is the situation in Facebook groups and the second is a depiction of conversation in Whatsapp groups and chats.

My group Help Chennai! then changed to Help TAMIL NADU!

Chennai Rising- named someone.

Its TN. Even Cuddalore and other districts have to be considered said someone else.

The range of help Chennai has provided to itself can never be depicted in words. The integrity and love felt by every human soul in and around the city and how it helped other districts in TN should have touched infinity by now. The people from Karnataka, Kerala and other states and even from abroad, who collected funds for the people in one way or the other and risked themselves to make sure it reached the right people were remarkable. Many people who left Chennai during the first stages of rain (first week of December), has expressed their guilt for not being able to participate actively in the rescue and volunteering operations. The problem lies here.

The fact that the help is pouring from everywhere is true. And the fact that you might be lead down by some false requests and your money or things might get wasted on that is also equally true. Funding for a cause is not a bad idea at all. Actually it’s the best thing you can do. But, to whom you are giving and how authenticated their information are, is under question when you are at a long distance and if you cannot verify the data provided by them, then it’s not worth spending time on. It will not reach any people for sure.

I just want to mention here, how I came across the real volunteers near my place.

I started a group called Help Chennai! in Whatsapp on Dec 3. I added all my friends from schooling to college to workplace. Those people in that group had no idea who the hell the other one was. But still they all remained together. May messages were shared regarding the weather, immediate need of things at various places and need for volunteers and works of volunteers in badly affected areas. I wanted to donate things, but had no idea how to find out the rescue camps or volunteers. That is when my friend Aravind (College mate) came to my rescue. He referred his friend- Santhosh, who had already collected and given relief materials through Collector office for Kanchipuram district. Even before this I had been given names of volunteers, but I did not go for it because I did not have any sorts of verified or authenticated messages. Here was this boy from Kanchipuram, who was a close friend of my good friend. So why would I not consider this? I did. He messaged me, calling me Akka. There was this conversation about his volunteer group’s next day visit to Chennai and then we ended it saying the things would be collected by tomorrow.

To say frankly, I am not a person who believes anything until it happens. So, even after this conversation and even after I felt comfortable with this bro, I did not prepare my bag for them to collect.

The next day morning my friend called me to inform about the where-abouts of his friend. I thought Santhosh would come and collect from me. Then, I had been messaged by two other people from Santhosh's group at 9’o clock. Then there was no communication. All the networks went dead and I thought like they would never reach me. Now I had made my bag with some of my dresses and shawls and bags from other houses were getting into my home to be given to the people in relief camps. I got excited and panicked at the same time. What if these people could not turn up? 

The only good thing that was positive at that time was that I had given my address to all the volunteers I came in touch with in Whatsapp. Then suddenly when I returned from the other flat collecting things, I saw two of the people standing there with the bags from my home. So finally they were there. I didn’t even have the time to learn about their residence and all that. It was my father who told me about where they were from. I could get their name. That is all I could get. Later learnt they were from the next street. I was informed about where the materials would be delivered and to whom. After which another friend of mine-Roshan, who lives near my place came to deliver things like cups, tracks for men and the same above mentioned things happened again the next day. These volunteer boys made a point that they worked in shifts. I was astonished by their commitment and organisation even in the heavy rain.

I have to thank Aravind, Santhosh from Kanchipuram, Mary and Shaym and their friends from Adambakkam and to people in their group and my group who listened and did whatever they could. Thanks to my neighbors, who donated even their new dresses and blankets and beds.

I am proud I have been a part of it. I will be a part of it in the future too, for this doesn't mark the end. We are just a dust. The rest, Chennai knows, sorry Tamil Nadu knows. 

If you want to contribute make sure it's a trusted end and it reaches the right people.

Fund for a cause.

But, make sure you go with/to the right set of people.

How you make your decisions?

Part-1

How important is decision making in one's life?

Decisions are made in every second of our life.
If you don't believe, let me tell you:
Waking up in the morning, you decide to exercise or to walk or to sleep a little long.
To take you coffee or your lemonade!
To read The Hindu or The Indian Express!
To cook or to eat outside!
To wear a blue color dress or a red one!
To fight with you friend for a mistake or to forgive them!

There are lots of examples like this. Decisions help us run the day smoothly, at least with less damage. But sometimes decisions are not just about a coffee and lemonade or The Hindu and The Indian Express. They are big and those decisions eventually shape our life. They are not jokes or pranks. But real, though intangible. Some are really difficult to take. Some decisions once made can be reviewed and changed later. But many times, life decisions made once, takes away the power from most of the people to do so.

Like if you have seen old Tamil movies, where the hero would be the law maker for a small village or group of people. His way of giving justice would be cruel and against law, literally by killing the 'one who  makes mistake'. The heroine would come and ask him to leave all the things he were doing to marry her and he would say a dialogue, "I chose this myself. I cannot back off now. Not from this."
The heroine would say, "How can I live with a man, who has no guarantee for his own life?"
The hero would say, "Even if I leave it now, I will be dead. I cannot leave. I will not. After all these years, my life or death does not matter. But these people matter to me.  So, you make your own decision, to live with me or to leave."

Decisions are sometimes like that. Yeah! Even though the above conversation can bring a bit of boredom or make you think kinda, "Do I have to read you article to know that?", the message conveyed is very strong. You cannot revert that was decided by you once and sometimes even the forced, especially the most critical ones like your career and studies.

In this way decisions are very important in one's life.

Next post- Dreams and passions.
Stay reading!

Misconception of the word- 'Love'

Love

The google search provides us with following meanings for the above mentioned word at the first hit

1. A strong feeling of affection.

2. A great interest and pleasure in something. 

Really? Did they think this noun can mean only these two sentences? Oh my god! Then google is insane. How could they do that? Even my brain, which usually holds very less number of words and  probably only the simple meaning or synonym for those words, return lots of meaning for Love. My neurons run the electric signals through the synopsis as fast as a light when I come across this word. Oh! Yeah. Almost for all the people who really live their life to the fullest, will have the same feeling as mine. 

So, I have said this to many people. Not as a such, but in a sentence that would always remain to be the best statement that I will ever say in my life,'I love you'. By all means, people reading this will wonder what the hell is this girl telling? Can we say it to more than one person? Yes. I can. Yes. I am doing it. 

I say it to mom every morning. I say it to my dad more times than I say it to her. I tell it to my sister at the end of every fight. I tell it to my best friends (I have three and two of them are guys) and to my good friends and to my just friends whenever I feel like saying it. I say it to many people and some really do get the meaning of it. Some think that I am mad. So am I. They allow me to be or I allow myself to be identified mad. I love the fact that love is mad.

Many people have the misconception that love is always an excess of adrenaline flowing through the blood when we see a beautiful beast. Many people think that it's always about missing a heartbeat and losing ones mind. You don't have to be like that always. You can be perfectly sane or imperfectly insane to use this word in that sentence. Yeah! You can be misunderstood sometimes. But misunderstanding people always misunderstand. You don't have to explain everything to everyone.

So, do you want to know what have I got because of this word? I have  got a mom who thinks that I can really become a writer one day. I have got a dad who can love me even after making him fall on the floor. I have got a sister who thinks that I can get a noble prize for something one day. I have got an uncle who thinks me as his own daughter. I have got best friends who pick my call anytime, even in the middle of a movie or a meeting. They talk to me even when I have nothing to tell and really feels proud for my success and stands by the side of me at hard times and makes me forget the terrible things I have gone through. I have got a whole bunch of brothers, Oh! not really related by blood. But, they do care for me, more than like a own brother. I have got a little teenage thug who never listens to his mom but me. He is my favorite among all brothers. I have got this nature which sends me a wind to endure, a rain to wet, a flower to smile and a butterfly to say me 'Good luck!' before every big deal. Love has created me.

The word 'Love' never can hold a same definition or meaning for any two people on earth. Love is not a feeling, its not an emotion. 

Love is eternal.

Love is everything.

Love has a broader perspective to it.

Love is love. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Its a right combination of every best thing in the world.

I have defined a small part of my view about this word. I don't feel this is the best. But, love never searches for the best. It always creates the best out of people.

So, have you ever thought of a word which has millions of meaning? Here is one.

Post Script: A continuation of Where is beauty?

Go ego!!!

Shalu was Ritu's best friend. Troubling teens, both were. They were in 10th grade and good at studies, top ten in the class. So nobody could complain about their mischevousness.

Shalu's house was near the temple. They used to go there and have fun. She was very lean, while Ritu was a bit fat. Forget their size differences, they were hell to handle together.

Shalu bought a new dress, a blue one with sandal stripes. It was a full hand dress with a netted shall. It was too good but too big for her. So she offered that new dress to Ritu. It looked perfect on her.

The day came, when Shalu left Ritu to another school. She resisted to go there. But her parents pushed her too much. Ritu was angry. When Shalu came to tell a good bye, Ritu did not talk. Even when she cried hugging her, Ritu did not yield. Both were very much hurt. Ritu wanted her to stay. Who would she have to talk? Who would she have to study with? Who would she have to tell about her crush on some boy? But, she did not ask her to stay. She did not tell her best friend, how important she was to her. How would she? Her ego won. Shalu left the place.

Shalu, on one random day, came to Ritu's house. She shouted at the top of her voice, asking for her blue dress.

'If you could not understand me, then no way you can have my dress.', she went near Ritu and said.

Ritu was breathless and was profusely sweating when she woke up. She became pale. Whenever she crosses Shalu's house while going to the temple, she would say, 'I am sorry baby. I cannot return your dress. I am sorry for not stopping you from going away. I am sorry for not understanding you that day.' How would she give her? Shalu died a month ago. It was a suicide and no one knew the reason. It was rumored that she could not bear being away from her family and her best friend.

In our lives, there comes a stage where our ego tries to conquer the true love we have for some people. It just makes the time we had with them a ghost. If we could forget that ego thing and show them how important they are to us, everything will be fine. Just fine. Try killing ego and you will never regret it. It works in every realtionship, frienship or love or anything.

It's dangerous!!!

She was walking through the night.
The yellow light from the lamp,
Made her shadow appear ghostly.
The light glowed hauntingly reflecting on her dress.
She looked less human.
Her eyes wandered, searching for someone.

She looked into the trees.
They did not move an inch, for they were afraid,
Not of her, but of her tears.

Suddenly,
She felt a chill on her spine.
She knew the reason.
She found 'that someone' she was searching.
She smiled.
Her eyes searched intensely.
A breeze blew the hair on her face,
She then closed her eyes, allowing the breeze to embrace her.
The trees astonished by what they saw,
Made a 'swish' sound but stopped the second she looked at them.
She then walked away saying "Yes. I do"

His soul wept in the shadow,
For the answer she gave him.
He promised he would never show up.
But his soul stayed, where he met with that terrible accident and left her helpless.
And the trees mourned his sadness.
He stayed just to hear from her once again.
He never left that tree after he died.

For that darkness and the chill never scared her.
She knew he would be waiting for her everyday.
Why else would the breeze ask her, 'Do you still love me?'?
She said to herself , "Yes. Still, I do"
And walked to their home.
Like the day they were walking together after the dinner.
Only to end up losing him.

The man who killed him, was drinking again!
Driving in the dimly lit road.
The tree's 'swish' was heard again.
The breeze blew.

His car now tumbled over a ditch.

The same place where she lost him.
It was never an accident.
There was never a ditch before.

Don't drink and drive. It's dangerous.

He still stands under that tree and watches everyone,
And the breeze blows whenever someone drink and drive,
For his love walks everyday to say him her love.

WHAT IS YOUR RELIGION?

I follow Hinduism. I pray to the idols in the temple. I celebrate Diwali, Pongal, Dhasara and many other festivals. I share sweets with my friends during these festivals.

My best friend is a Muslim. He believes in one god and in non-idol worship. He celebrates Ramzan, Bakrid and many other festivals. I have heard many of my other friends talking about the taste of the Biryani during these festivals in his home (Being a vegetarian I couldn’t afford to take the offer).

One of my friends is a Christian. She goes to church every Sunday, celebrates Christmas, Easter and many other festivals. I have tasted the Christmas and Easter cakes myself and they were really awesome.

When we were born, we were just blood and flesh. There was no religion inscribed into any of us. But forgive the society; we were brought into a cycle of belief. It is for the good, I should say. Religion gives us a belief beyond the existence of man. We are given a path to follow. We are taught to love, live and thank someone beyond, which help us beyond the four walls of a temple or a church or a mosque.

We are born in a secular country which respects the culture and tradition of all religions equally. My stand is that, you need not accept others beliefs. You don’t even have to be secular at all. But remember, others have the same right too. This does not imply that anyone can disrespect any religion because they are not following it.

Religious tolerance comes naturally to people who really admire their beliefs. People who fear their existence alone, admits violence as their weapon. So if disrespect towards other religions is purely based on fear that the religion would die, then even your own religion would never accept you. A religion never fears. It knows it will be followed. It knows it will have followers. Because, it shows the path of love and beyond.

And to be precise,

I am a Hindu who desperately wants to end my last breath at Kasi.

I am a Muslim who wants to perform the Hujj Yatra before I die.

I am a Christian who wants to attend the Mass every Sunday.

I am a Sikh who wants to keep the beard and hair uncut throughout my life.

I am a Jew, I even follow Buddhism and Jainism. I am a Parsi too and the list goes on and on.

After experiencing to be all, I am proud to accept I have my own beliefs. I am not secular at all. I declare myself to be a religious extremist, only that my religion being Humanity and my belief being love and compassion- A lesson thought by all these religions. 

So, What is your religion?

~A dedication to Gandhi, the same man who inspired me to write this.

From: You - To: You

Hey. Hello. Can you hear me? I am talking to you. Yes, absolutely to you.

Don’t hesitate. You should listen now. I have something to say to you, only to you.

You are the best I have ever been with. You know that I love you. Yes, I do. Wherever you are, whatever you become, I will love you. I am the happiest person when you win.

When you work, I work with you. When you are so engrossed in your book I remain silent grasping the emotions from them, redefining my feelings. When you have fun with your friends, I laugh with you, making you feel ecstatic. When you feel loved, it’s me who makes you lovable. If they could see me inside you, I am sure they will stay with you till the end of the world.

You do not know my presence unless you suffer. I know you do not mean to do this, there are no intentions. But, sometimes I need attention: undivided, uninterrupted. Especially, when I get hurt, when I am betrayed, when I fail, I need you.

I am not pleading. I am ordering. Am I sounding a little authoritative? If you feel so, I have a secret to tell you. After unraveling the secret you will not find me this way. 

But wait. I have other things to say to you, at the first place.

When these things happen, you have to talk to me immediately, because when I get hurt I show myself through tears or anger. I might reduce everything around you to nothing. I might lose the confidence on you and on love. That would be so dangerous than the actual betrayals and failures.

So, I need you to back me up. I need you to illustrate me the importance of composing myself again. After all the mishaps, when I come up from the scrap with your help, I will not be the same. I will never forget the lessons from the pains. I will be more careful.

And I promise you that I will be better.

I will have scars, but I will look even more beautiful. I will get the poise to fight anything. I will love you even more.

I don’t promise to be perfect. But, I will know how to heal myself and love again. So, you have the permission to get me hurt several times-after all they would shape me: but never for a second time, for the same reason. Just give me this vow and I will take you to heights you have never imagined. Having made you listen this long…

To the secret now!!!

Read the title!!!

Aylan to Papa

Those people with feeble heart do not read this...
Aylan is a three year old Syrian boy who wanted to reach Greece island  Kos with his family consisting of his father, mother and his 5 year old brother Galip. Thousands of people from various Afrian countries are fleeing their homeland in under capacity boats to escape from the IS terrorist group and Civil war. Lots of people have lost their lives in the middle of the ocean in the process. The European countries like Hungary and Greece have put electric fences to prevent these people from entering their country.

Aylan's family was also traveling in a under capacity boat in the treacherous sea waters with may other people from their home land. Their boat gave up near Turkey and most of them drowned in the waters. This little boy's photo has changed the mind set of many EU nations like Hungary, Austria and they are now accepting refugees from war troden Syria, Libya and other African countries. A salute to Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany who gave voice to the refugees from the beginning.

This one article is a tribute to Aylan, the little boy who changed the minds of Big European countries. We love you Aylan.

An imagination- What Aylan would say to his father?

PAPA..

This is Aylan. Can you hear me?

I see you crying now.

Why are you crying papa?

You want to know why did I sleep in the beach with my face half drowned inside the sand?

I will tell you papa.

You told we would be safe.

You told that the place we go will give us food and water. You even promised me that you would buy me a remote car, once I asked you.

Papa..

You know what?

I saw them coming, the big waves that collapsed our small boat. I was with you and mom. Galip was also with us. But, once the big wave hit, I could not see anything papa. I was drinking that water. It was so salty. I couldn’t breathe. I searched for you and mom. But my little fingers were not enough to grab you, to hold on to you. I saw mom. She asked me to come to her. I was very afraid. She was not normal. She called me again and again from the sky. Now, I saw Galip standing next to her calling my name. He said he would not beat me and asked to come with him. Then, there were you. I saw you picking me with all your might. You wanted me. You wanted all of us, mom, Galip and me. But by the time you took us to the beach, it was too late papa. Mom already gave me a remote car to play and Galip promised not to snatch that from me. So I went with them papa. Now, that explains my sound sleep in the sand from which I would never wake up.

This place where I stay is called heaven mom said to me and I get enough cars and planes to play. There is no bomb. There is no fight. So I will never come to the seas that took you away from me. You should have come with us papa. Here it is so good papa. Mom says it is because of love. She says it brings us peace.

Why there is no love in the place you live papa?

Why people always fight over land?

When will there be peace in your place?

If there is no peace, you come to us papa. You will love this place.

If you want to stay there, I will not bother you. But, don’t cry for us papa. Mom says big people from big nations are talking about the friends from our country only because of my photo. Mom says I served the purpose of my birth and she says she is proud of me and Galip. I am happy for that papa. Mom always talks about you papa. She is always worried about you. She says you tried you best to save us. She thinks you are sad. She loves you papa.

Ok papa. I am going to play with Galip. There are lots of kids like me here.

We all love you papa.

Image source:

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk 

st-eutychus.com

I WISH

I wish...

~From the heart of a man in love

I wish...

My eyes passed you, just like it passed those thousands of people standing in a railway station,

I wish...

You never dragged my heart with you,

You never replied to my messages in Facebook,

You never believed me, when I offered to be just good friends,

You never gave your number to me,

You never picked, when I called to see if it was your number,

You never gave me treats,

You never shared your happiness and sorrows with me,

You never raised your voice for me,

You never called me your best friend,

You understood my love as love,

I wish...

I had enough courage to confess to you that I loved you, 

I knew you were in love with another man,

I wish to get my heart back and my memories erased,
I wish to have a rebirth, just to fall for you one more time,

I wish you to be happy always!!!