bachpan ki yaaden!

Udaan!

Love this song!

The Journey Home

Just finished reading the book 'The journey home', I can't express how much this book has inspired me. What a humble way of expressing such a devoted and disciplined life. In this world of duality, one might question the existence of God, but when I see people like you (Radhanath Swami) or read/head about them, I just feel blessed!

One mantra to remember

I was hearing a self help lecture and the speaker quoted a saying from William Barkley "Always give without remembering, always receive without forgetting"

This indeed will help in changing our perspective.

Guru

In the spiritual conjunction, one should neither praise nor blame ..
but out of these two, it is better to praise ..

(continuing ..)

What am I up to these days?

I am hooked up to pandora.com these days. The whole week, I kept listening soothing bhajans from Krishna das.

http://www.pandora.com/

Life of a common man

I loved it ..

100 things to do in India

In the US, I have seen several articles/books that talks about 100 things to do before you die or places to visit before they vanish etc. So i asked Sapeckshita let's think to such things in India ...

Here is the initial list in no particular order:


• Travel in Mumbai (Bombay) local train
• Watch the sunset at Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin)
• Cutting Chai @ any local chai shop
• Take the camel ride and do camping in the Jaisalmer desert
• Play Holi in Vrindavan.
• Kailash Mansarovar Parikrama(trekking at alt. up to 19500 ft)
• Enjoy the festivity of Durga Puja in Bengal during Diwali.
• Ganpati Festival in Mumbai (Bombay).
• Amazing Nohkalikai Falls at Cherapunji, Meghalaya
• Visit Rajgad Fort, Maharashtra
• Go to Tea Gardens at Munnar, Kerala
• Nubra Valley, Ladakhm, Jammu and Kashmir
•
•





(still working on it, suggestions are welcome ;-),

Man is mortal..

I received a call from my father that my nanny (mother's mother) has passed away. May the soul rest in peace. I spoke to my mother as she was lamenting. I told sapeckshita that life is so unpredictable. She responded, death is the most predictable thing for every human being. We try to fool ourselves by various ways, but at the end we have to leave this body ..says the bhagavad gita. Bhagavad gita also says that every living entity has to go through the cycle of birth, old age, disease and death.

.. this year so far!

..

We completed our first anniversary this year, and it's been an interesting journey :), I won't write a lot of details, but somebody is right that marriage comes with a lot of 'fine prints'

I don't have that much authority to write on this topic, but i think marriage gives some purpose to our life.

This song depicts it really well, i almost choked up when I listed to it ...

New resolution

This weekend we ended up watching 6 movies .. so called movie marathon. I specifically liked 'Wake up Sid' I think a lot of guys (and girls too) would like this movie. At some point of time, we might have faced similar situation where we are unable to understand things or question the way things have been happening around ..

In this journey of finding the purpose/identity in life, It would be so wonderful if one could pause a little bit and take sometime to appreciate things and people around.. I think it's a idea great.. and this is gonna be one of the resolution of the new year now.
(appreciate/call/write/think of/ 100 people in 2010, to who i feel thankful to..) and if you are reading this blog, you may be one of them :-),

Wide Awake

I just love this movie!

=================
Before this year bullies were just bullies for no reason, weirdoes were just weird, and daredevils weren't afraid of anything. Before this year, people I loved lived forever. I spent this year looking for something and wound up seeing everything around me. It's like I was asleep before and finally woke up. Know what? I'm wide-awake now.

Laila Majnu continues ..

Kis-wal akheya we Majnu-nu, O teri Laila disdi kaali we!
Majnu ne jawab ditta, O teri ankh wekhan-waali we!
Je tu dekhe meri ankh naal, Teri surat na jaaye samhaali we!
Ved bhi chitta ter Quran bhi chitti, Vich shyahi rakh ditti kaali we!
Ghulam Farid jitthe ankhiyaan lagiyaan, Utthe kya gori, kya kaali we!

Jagjit Singh ...

Laila Majnu

Laila puch baithi mujhnu se ek mujhe aise kya dekh rahe ho.


" Laila na puch main tujhme kya dekh raha hoon.
main kais hoon, aur tujhme khuda dekh raha hoon.

tujhko khuda kahu ya khuda ko khuda kahu
dono ki shaklen ek hain, kisko khuda kahu

tau sambhal ek baithna, ae husn-e-laila dekhne walon.
tamasha khud na ban jana - tamasha dekhne walon.

bitha ke samne laila ko dekhe hasrate yusuf
kare phir faisla hushn-ae-julekha dekhne-wale

aur hua hi chahta hain, khatm kissa meri hasti ka
tamasha dekh kar jana, tamahsa dekhne walon.. "




लैला न पूछ मैं तुझमे क्या देख रहा हूँ .
मैं कैस हूँ,और तुझमे खुदा देख रहा हूँ .

तुझको खुदा कहू या खुदा को खुदा कहू
दोनों की शक्लें एक हैं,किसको खुदा कहू

तो संभल के बैठना,ऐ हुस्न-ऐ-लैला देखने वालों .
तमाशा खुद न बन जाना तमाशा देखने वालों .

बिठा के सामने लैला को देखे हसरते युसूफ
करे फिर फैसला हुस्न-ऐ-जुलेखा देखने -वाले

और हुआ ही चाहता हैं,ख़त्म किस्सा मेरी हस्ती का
तमाशा देख कर जाना, तमाशा देखने वालों ..

======================

Bhilwara - My Home Town!!

The world is so small and Google is so amazing :-), I know there is no correlation between both of them.

So I was feeling like going home (India), and I thought what would be the fastest way to visit home -- Google, came into my mind.

Of course when we go to India .. we want to roam around all the streets and school where we used to play, that neighborhood still gives me the feeling that I am a KIDDO :-), and there is no office tomorrow.

Missile game over the weekend!

This weekend, Sapeckshita & I played a game called "Missile Missile game". I thought I would put up the score online for sapeckshita .. so she wouldn't dare to ask me to play this game again .. just kidding lady :-),


it's just for our memory :-),

Story behind 26.2 miles.

I have always wanted to give something back to the country, alma-mater, community and loved ones to which I owe everything I have. This dormant desire has been within me for a long time but I was not clear about what to do with it, how to realize it, and whom to approach?

After moving to Washington DC, I made several attempts aimed at realizing my desire of giving back, including teaching Hindi at the George Washington University for more than a year and hosting at my residence weekly spiritual discussions based on the Bhagavad Gita. Through such ventures, I met many inspiring individuals,including my better half. Somewhere among these thoughts and desires was probably also an internal calling of running a marathon .

My first introduction to marathons happened last year when I was cheering runners in Marine Corps 2007. Then, I had the uninformed notion that marathoning was nothing but aimless running to make oneself feel good. I was not convinced if this was any way to change the world for the better. Regardless of this notion, I decided to give running a chance, and this
year, after running myself, I have realized that marathon is indeed a way to change the world. During the training period of the past 4-5 months and after the completion of my first half marathon, Riley's rumble, I have learnt that changing the outer world actually begins with the inception of change in our inner world.

Every little mile I run plays a big role in the betterment of the way I perceive the world. Perhaps this is the best gift I can give to anyone. On the 26th October, 08, I am aiming to run the 'Marine Corps Marathon'.

I am dedicating my run to the 26 individuals who have significantly inspired me during the past 26 years, and were there when I needed them the most. I hope they'll appreciate this small gift. I am looking forward to finding new ways of giving back.

Sincerely,
-Ashutosh.

Poem for one of my friend!!

Last year, I wrote a poem for one of my USC friend on his birthay, part of this poem talks about our miserable life :), just thought of putting in online ...




woh OPNET ke simulation aur
ghar pe unke execution.
cs402 ki threads aur.
mere muffin breads.

algorithms ka 'A' aur
cs402 ka 'C'
551 ki height ki
sabki halat tight

woh pareshani wali raatein aur
cruiser main hui baatein.
leavey ki haai aur
trojan grounds se ashu ke haath ki chai.

nasreen ka pehla pyar aur
daisy ki car.
kishan ki gopiya aur
campus ki ladkiya

woh mitti da baweya aur
chado di june ...
babe da ishq aur
samjo match fix..

woh ghar pe khana aur
gurudware jana.
woh bhangra pana aur
saath gaane gana

artesia ki bhel aur
sandiego seaworld ki whale
disneyland ki pics aur
universal studio ki chicks

summer of 2005 ki shame aur
hum starbucks ke samne
pointers ki funde aur
discuss hote har sunday ...

resume prepration aur
interview selection
jyada rejection to
thode selection

salaray negotiation aur
duniya bhar ka tension
thoda sa compensation aur
phir se relocation

NY ka manhattan ya
boston ka mutton .....

Purani yaadon ka silsila.
jo dillo main basta chala


I must say, those were one of the best days of life :), ....

Always Be Happy,
-A

3 Spartans!!

We have a bad reputation of getting ice cream, salad or raita during in Potluck's so friend of mine sent us an invite like this ...
--------------------------
Dear Warriors,

'The Horn of C-914 Shall Sound in the Deep One Last Time', to call one and all for the last POTLUCK of our batch.Let this be the Hour when we draw the Forks and Knives Together, Now for the Run, For Ruin and the Great Brains.

Ohh my fellow warriors, the lord summons you for the last great dinner hosted at our fortress on the top of the Mount Consul.The dinner that shall be remembered for the generation to come when the greatest cook's shall take birth to prepare the most delicious dishes ever tasted by men.

The World is changed, we feel in the Water, we feel it in the Earth,we can smell it in the Air, much that once was, is lost, for few that live here who remember it... So we the guardians of Mount Consul call upon all living supporters to cook great dishes, to bring back the grand memories, to bring back those great times.

So look for us on the 10th of May at DUSK, look towards the West.

Cook with us for Pride & Glory, 2 Good Dishes per Apartment. We look for great dishes, from our friends. Pls declare the dishes that you shall bring with you so as to avoid any duplicate dishes.

The infidels who shall come with 'RAITA' or 'Salad' or just 'Ice-Cream' shall be thrown off the Cliff of Mount Consul.

See you on 10th of May with 2 grand dishes,sharp at 8:30pm.

In the name of the Great Lord and his 2 Knights we the residents of C-914 look forward to see you.

Your Faithful
---------------------------
pretty neat .... right? we did accept the humble invitation but ended up sending the following reply :-),
---------------

Me Lord,

For your honor .... THIS IS SPARTA! and we"A-614" spartans, will bring things you probably have guessed already!

There will be floods of 'RAITA' on your Mount Counsul, The world is changed .... but the enthusiasm and spirits of spartans shall never decreased, you shall smell the fresh salads during the auspicious day!

You are generous as you are divine, Oh "Lord of the Rings". Such an offer only a madman would refuse. But the idea of kneeling, it's... uh... you see, slaughtering all those vegetables of yours has left a nasty cramp in my leg, so kneeling will be hard for me.

No retreat, no surrender. That is Spartan law. And by Spartan law, we will stand and eat... A new age has begun: an age of freedom ..an age of ice-cream! And all will know that 3 Spartans gave their last breath to defend the right to bring 'RAITA', 'SALAD' and 'ICE-CREAM'!

Spartans! Ready your dinner and eat hearty, FOR May 10, WE DINE IN HELL!!!

----
We're in for one wild night.
-Spartans!!