The cloud with the silver lining

 

 

It is indeed mesmerizing to see a cloud with a silver lining. When the sun hides behind the cloud and lights it.

We know our strength. Do YOU ???

All that glitter is not gold.
Its funny, but I realize what that really means. The Golds Gym, the largest international gym chain in the world was introduced to India in 2002. With a reputation of owning finest equipment and certified trainers, this gym today has an ever growing membership. Their specialized programs promise you a fine body that everyone will notice. And so after hitting our metros like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, The Golds Gym moved towards the smaller cities like Chandigarh.
Very excited Karan and I went down to see the gym. Not so impressive. Its boring. The location, first of all sucks. We knew that the gym was running on franchises, but please, why would the franchise owner choose a place like Mohali to start off. And as if that was not enough, the gym is right amidst office. huh! I was horrified at the location. No one was outside the premises( probably because it was weekend). But honestly, I don't think its better off on weekdays either.
 Karan had an appointment with the manager of the branch . He wanted to work with the to get some hours on his resume, after he took his test to be certified fitness trainer. Here I'd like to point at the mismanagement of the staff, who fixed an appointment first, and when we're there already inform us that the manager was not available on weekends. I was so pissed off. I wanted to yell- "what do you really mean by the word appointment?"  Apart from that the gym was suffocating and dull. Anyways, that was all two years back.


After almost two years, we got married. I drive down to work to Mohali. And guess what? My workplace is very close to the boring international-franchise-owned-warehouse-gym. On my way back home yest I spotted a an advertisement of the gym. I was shocked, literally SHOCKED at the idea of location, yet again. And second, at the condition of that innovative effort to attract people. This is what GOLDS GYM has come down to after a struggle of 3 years in Punjab-    A corner for drying clothes!!

I'm not sure if you will really notice fine bodies, courtesy Golds Gym, But you will definitely notice THISSS......

Shining under the rain

Its been a rainy month throughout. And I love taking pictures of various things around when they are drenched. Everything is sparkly and shines in even in the slightest drop of light.

Busy in their own way

Such pictures really give me pleasure. When everyone is busy runnig around, making money, plotting, these little ones are lost in their own thoughts. They have a world of their own, unaffected by the outside rush.

No more rains

The trip to the hills started off well. The weather was great. raining continuously. We thought we'd have an amazing time. But we couldn't get out the car.We ate in the car, had tea in the car.

 Drove to Subarthu. Its an old cantonment area. The place looked beautifully preserved. We saw a drunk Gorkha officer, the old temple. Stopped at a  local restaurant for lunch and headed back.
It was 5 in the eve when we started to drive back.It is a total 1 and half drive back, but we were stuck in the traffic jam till 9. The rains dint stop for a minute. When we finally reached a spot where Karan could get off the car to pee. There we saw a car stopped almost in the middle of the road, and I knew the reason for the jam. Insensitivity has become a key trait of people in India. Everyone is a big shot in his own way. People had the time to wait in the traffic for 3 hours, but not one had the time to stop and help. So we decided to help. But to our great shock, the man's car hadn't broken down the usual way a car breaks down. But it had been actually broken down by four large pieces of rock fallen from the hill. One had smashed the wind shield, and fallen on his newly wed and fractured her leg. The next one had broken the tyre I two halves, and the rest had enter from the back of the car. so we knew they were in great trouble. My father and husband tried to stop cars passing by,a s we dint have enough space to take them with us. But sadly no one stopped. We waited for half hour, and the three men were drenched in rain. I suddenly heard an usual cracking sound from behind, and I looked at Karan's face. He stared breathless, and i knew something was wrong. I opened my door to look out and didn't see much, but huge rocks falling. That's when I knew I had to run. But my mother was just not ready to move, as she was confused. Karan and my father stoned, looked . I screamed at Karan to get back in the car and move it away from the area. I dint have the courage to look out again. In fact I could see nothing around except for papa and Karan, not even the other man. My dad dint want to leave that helpless guy alone, but we had no choice. So we calmed him down,and drove to the nearest fir brigade station and informed them about the mishap. They rushed to the site and we were relieved.  But there's one more thing that I'd like to tell you guys, that before we reached the fir brigade, we tried calling the police, But the number wasn't reachable. So we called the local search engine-Just dial, to ask for it. And surprisingly this popular search engine dint have the most important numbers, and even more surprisingly, it dint have the city itself registered. I always thought it was doing a great job, but I was really disappointed. Such websites just want to make money by putting random people on the website, but no emergency numbers can be found here. I think if I dint find a restaurant here, I would still survive, but an emergency number is a must. Its shameful, everyone is in the business of making money, but no true service is being given.

Anyways, I had a rough night after the incident and Swore never to visit the hills in rain again.

Authority kills Individuality

Use of authority at work palce is a common thing, a common problem, a common enemy to many. 
Seniors pressurize subordinates to perform roles against will and more importantly 'INTEREST'. I always thought qualification was no factor in determining a person's capability of becoming a manger. But experience, certainly is. But somehow I happen to realize now, the more experienced a man is, the more blurred his understanding and interests become. He does have a vision, a vision which only he gets at office hours.


Experience is the keyword to success. But why does this experience blur the visions of a man, who fails to see the persepective of a cog. The cog, yes, is the one who does everything, in a hope to becoming a success in life SOMEDAY. 
Lets forget big organizations, and take example of a family. I grew up hearing stories of how my father faught at school. How he was a local gang leader at college. How he bunked college to be with his girl friends. And my mother would tell me about all her stylish dresses, and that she would go to movies very often when she was young. When she got engaged to my father, they would have food at expensive places in town, and how would splurge her with  gifts. But when we grew up, I saw nothing of all that. My sister and I were hardly taken to movies. Being girls we couldn't get into street fights, or get pocket money. I had to complete my grad privately, because my attendance was low. And my father had almost killed me for that. When i got engaged I was taught daily, not to eat out too much.  
As its said, when you become successful, don't forget your bad days. Family experience on the contrary never lets you forget bad days. This is a reason why parents never want their children to repeat their mistakes. In the course, they sometimes restrict their kids to an extent of suffocating them, stopping them from making experiences, hence giving them even worse days in a few extreme cases.
The sad part of being experienced is that most of the experience is not from what you have seen, but from what you heard- from a friend. If a friend's son dies in a car accident, you never buy your own son a car. If a relative's daughter scored high in exams, you frustrate your own kid with comments about being dumb.
So, coming back to work place, a working experience teaches you both good and bad. But you remember only good, opposite to family experience. Seniors tend to remember good times, and good attributes of themselves, which made them seniors. "I worked day and night on a project and got promoted", "I was always hardworking and a favorite of my boss".  They forget where they started from, where they came from. The bad experiences are for their own kids. "I started from scratch, washed dishes in hotels, did small jobs, to give you a comfortable life", " I had no money when i got married"
These insensitive seniors make their associates do things which were once quite impossible for them. And if a person manages to do them and become a senior, there is another transformation. A man is pushed into a robotic lifestyle, with no individuality, but just a dream to make it big!

where is the love??

I could never really understand why the differences were made out between idol worship and non idol worship. Just the presence of and idol in one and the absence in the other. Is that too big a difference to divide hearts, to divide people across  nations? Why is idol worship considered to be waste of time and show off, and the wrong path to meet God? Why is it considered and unforgivable sin in Islam.

I believe in God, and i too worship the idol. I consider my worship to be a form of conversation with some higher power I believe in. I dont know what it looks like, but i believe in it. What does a conversation involve? the presence of two or more people. so if I talk to the idol in my room, or a photograph of one of the Gods on the wall, what is so wrong with it? i see an image, and a muslim imagines. Doesn't imagination have some form. if not a figure, but a word, a light. Something to worship, something to hold on to, t to walk towards. Why the question of superiority. Why the disparity? Why the question of better understanding of religion is risen every time? Why the need of conversion?
 
God is one.

Is it really? Then why does a Muslim hate a Hindu and vice-versa? Why the killings in the name of religion?. Why the young minds which are once taught the lesson of one god, are one day poisoned with feelings of hatred for one another? 

Every religion teaches the same thing, and every follower pretends to follow, but denies it inside. Learned men were born in different parts of the world to enlighten the masses. They taught good things to people. But did they divide the world into sections unknowingly.? Trying to inculcate the minds of people with the sense of unity, did they push them into the pond of discrimination?

Sikh gurus, Hindu lords, Jesus Christ and also the Prophet, everyone preached benevolence and the oneness of the almighty. But the world has forgotten it all, and just remembers one thing- no respect, love noone, hate all.

mango mania

                                                         
                                  Eat like no one is looking

               
                               Took some time out to pose!
                                                                

                                           Back to work! 
My little cousin who loves mangoes. As this mango season is nearing its end, i thought i'd post some pictures that i took last year. This, truely is INDULGENCE!!