Wednesday, September 21, 2016

An Abstruse Episode

A legion of thoughts kept bombarding me in an unusual way. My weird mind had unknowingly started an expedition inside a wild cave of darkness and uncertainty. I felt hopeless. I left office in quite a hurry. On my way to my room, I had a cup of coffee from the Cafeteria. Even caffeine couldn't be of much help. It was one of those depressing days that you would want to go home and sleep.

The lonely walk to my room which was supposed to be calm extended my suffering. The same old narrow pathways, pale street-lights and dark skies added to the distress. I switched on the TV as I entered my room. A TV anchor was having a puerile conversation with one of the callers. Then started a song that (kind of) emulated my feelings,

" ಅಲೆ ಮೂಡದೆ ನಿಂತಿದೆ ಸಾಗರ
ತುಸು ದೂರವೇ ನಿಂತನು ಚಂದಿರ
ದನಿ ಬಾರದೆ ನಿಂತಿದೆ ಆ ಸ್ವರ
ಮಾತಾಡಲು ಮೂಡಿದೆ ಅಂತರ
ಈ ಕಂಪನ ಏಕಾಂತ ತಂದಿದೆ 
ಕಂಡ ಕನಸು ಮತ್ತೀಗ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಬರದಾಗಿದೆ......"

In no time, I chose my bed over TV. I tried hard to sleep but couldn't close my eyes off. My unruly mind had been infected with trivial to profound matters of my life. Once in a while, I unlocked my cellphone, connected to wifi and read all the notifications. It was getting terrible after some time. Someone was holding the time as their slave and didn't allow it to move freely as it used to. All those inspiring posts on my Facebook timeline and motivating quotes on Twitter didn't have an impact on me, anymore. But...the problem behind all this strife was unclear. 

My optimism was shrinking as the night got darker. The agnostic in me had transformed into a firm believer in God. I had started to pray the almighty like never before. The fighting spirits had surrendered to the intimidating present. I was no more in control of what was happening.


The main reason behind these periodic blue days was ambiguous. I wasn't suffering from a broken relationship, my job was not that unconvincing and even RCB was winning a few matches these days. But we all have that audacious part in us which wants to explore life and do whatever our soul really wishes to. It wants us to unleash the full potential in us and do whatever is possible from us or even more than that. 

Just like it happens with most of us, I didn't have a genuine problem to be unhappy and this became my biggest problem. The mediocrity of my life was beating the shit out of my mind. The biggest problem, with most of us, is that we don't have a genuine problem. We are either in search of a problem or consider this life-without-problems as a problem. We never make an effort to change the way things are. And when we plan to do so, we hardly try for a longer time. This was disturbing me a lot. Life was lifeless, to say the least. I know, it sounds weird but that's what bothers a few of us, at least. As this soul-searching and grief continued my alarm started ringing with the most depressing tone as I snoozed it for 3rd time.

Yet another day was waiting with it's claws open for me.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

A Tribute to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam !

Prologue: Last year, on July 27, a great soul left a huge void in us and traveled towards an unknown place. This post was written to pay a tribute to Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Here I am publishing this piece now.

 The corridors of my school building and notice boards were brimming with the ideas, quotes and contributions of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Those were the times his ambitious 2020 plan was the talk of this nation. We had a chapter about this amazing human being in Class 9th English. My English teacher explained about Mr. Kalam's childhood and motivated us in the best way possible. Newspaper columns discussing Kalam's intentions and plan for future made us proud. More than anything else, his auto-biography 'Wings of Fire' had a strong impact on me.

Our school library had a brand new copy of 'Wings of Fire'. It took me quite some time to read this inspirational saga of one of the most influential leaders of this country. 'Wings of Fire' isn't another flashy tale of false hypes and self-appreciation. This book made an earnest effort to explain the reality and unfold the life of Mr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. I loved the poems in this auto-biography and jotted down a few on my notebook. In the coming days, I used these beautiful poems in my elocution and debate competitions. Unknowingly, I had started to admire him.


Source: Wikipedia
The struggles faced by him during his childhood didn't discourage him at all. He went on to give his best in everything he did. He had to sell newspapers to help his family. His journey from being a hard-working student to become scientist was a remarkable journey. Kalam worked in the field of aerospace and has a lot of achievements under his belt. From being a great scientist to a remarkable President, Dr. Kalam achieved great heights. His concern towards the betterment of the society and pragmatic efforts for the emancipation makes him one of the best. Simplistic attire, honest words, discipline and compassion of his are a true motivation to all of us.   

In a nation where President's post isn't considered to be too significant, Dr. Kalam set a new meaning to this post. His tenure marked a revival in the way we looked at ourselves. We had started to dream big and started considering ourselves to be the world's next knowledge super-power. The ambitious Vision 2020 was laid out by our President, Dr. Kalam. Our nation had taken this as a challenge and started working towards achieving this. The part played by Dr. Kalam in inspiring, leading and working towards the development of this country is something incredible. 

After such an amazing run as the first citizen of India, he still continued to strive hard to achieve in what he believed in.His active involvement in various educational institutes in research, motivation and guidance speaks great volumes of this intellectual person.

Dr. Kalam is not with us anymore, physically. But his dreams are with us. Let's give our best in achieving these dreams. 

God has not promised Skies always blue, Flower-strewn pathways All our life through; 
God has not promised Sun without rain, Joy without sorrow, Peace without pain.
― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Wings of Fire