Together we can achieve dreams!

Life has become so competitive nowadays. For everything, you need to compete with thousands and thousands of people. Sometimes you emerge a winner, but sometimes you are just a part of the remaining people waiting for the day to reach the winning spot.

Some failures don’t affect you much, but some affect you more. At those times, you need someone more than yourself to lean on. That is when your most loved ones enter. Most of the times, you don’t find the need or time for them in your life. Such a mechanical life is what we are all leading nowadays, and we just don’t care. The time for relations and friends are diminishing more than ever, but those are the relations that need to be cherished and those relations form the backbone of your success.

As I have said earlier, some failures drain the life out of you. You may feel like living with a Dementor character from the Harry Potter series, which sucks the happiness in a person.

 I faced a similar situation a few months back.

When you complete your 10+2, the college is your next step. You enter it with the joy and determination. Most of us complete that part of life successfully too.

But once you complete your college, your real life starts.You are no longer a student. You are expected to do things you have never done in the past twenty or so years.

After having completed my UG degree of MBBS, I finished my internship and started preparing for the All India Entrance for Post-Graduation. Without it, you will be nowhere in this world and every Doctor who is a PG Aspirant knows it. As the thirst for learning and doing higher studies increased, the number of people aspiring to do specialization increased too. 

But the seats are in the ratio of 1:1000 and you have to fight with all your capacity to stay in the competition.

As like everyone, I too prepared and sat for the entrance exams. There were many exams to attend and you will feel the need to write all of it, if not the most of it.

After having done my part, I was waiting with bated breath for the result to come. I was confident in myself and I was too excited waiting for the results, to do anything else.

The result day for one of the exams arrived, but I had not secured a good rank in the All India Entrance. I was shocked to see my results.

My parents were not at home when the results came and I didn’t know what to do.

An idle brain is a devil’s workshop and it was rightly proved in my case. I started thinking silly and useless things which I had not entertained earlier. The feeling of helplessness surrounded me. What I was going to do in my life became my nightmare. I concluded myself that I was worthless as I have not secured what I had wanted. I was filled with such useless thoughts and despair was engulfing my soul.

The thought that I could wait for the result of the next entrance never entered my mind and I felt as if my whole life was lost. The whole day was spent thinking over such mundane ideas and the evening soon came.

My parents returned home that evening. Parents are so special and they understand your feelings better than you and no amount of camouflaging will escape from their eyes.

They soon found my sad and sullen face and when I told them the reason, they were shocked too, for I had told them about my possible anticipated success.

But they were not disappointed as me or in me.

They made me sit down with them.

When I sat down at that day in front of my parents, I was drained off the optimism, which I needed that day.

My mom told me, that one failure doesn’t determine my knowledge and intelligence, and she also told me, that I should take it as a lesson and consider it as a ladder to reach a greater height than the one I intended. She then told me a story of our former president Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam. She told me how he was rejected for the place he truly wished for, but how he got a different post which was better for him than the one he wished for. She also told me that everything that happens was for good and if I had tasted only success, I would have become over confident, and that, I should work harder the next time.

My Dad, the ever practical person, told me, that, results of other exams were yet to come, and he was sure that I will get a good rank in all of those. And finally he said, if not that year, I could always repeat the exams next year, and one more of year of extra learning will come in handy for me in the future, if at all it happened.

They spoke with me for some time and though they were just words, they were mixed with feelings. In their words I caught sense of the hope and the love they had for me, and the pride which was so evident in their words made me happy and feel confident about myself. All those feelings were not said openly, but they existed in the words which were spoken and my feelings of loss and gloom vanished into thin air.

I felt alive, fresh and was flooded with hope. The optimism provides the hope you need and hope is will take you in your journey forward.

My family was there for me when I needed them the most, and they supported me in all my decisions, and saw pride in my achievements.

It was the strength that they gave that made me achieve my goals and attain my dreams.

The relations close to you, your parents and friends are the people who will say that #Together you can achieve your dreams and with them comes the confidence and the success.

Overcoming Fears

                             Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement.

                            Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

                                                                               -    Helen Keller

Optimism is a word that gives a boost of energy. When you feel that the whole world is acting against you, just hearing it gives little hope. By knowing the existence of some positivity in life, you tend to take your challenges positively too.

Here, I am going to share a story about Optimism and how it helped me.

This happened just a month back.

 MBBS Final year degree examination.                                                                                       

The top of the question paper read like that. Just looking at it gave me jitters. 5 more minutes to open the dreaded paper and read its contents, and my mind went back to the previous day.

                                                                  

                                                      Day before the exam

It was 5.00 AM. I took my books and went to the corridor in my hostel. The January mist was at its full force, and I shivered, despite my heavy sweater and scarf. Some of my classmates had already started reading and I went and joined them. Most of us read outside the room, because the warmth of our hostel rooms made us sleepy and we couldn’t afford to sleep.

I sat leaning over a pillar, and the chillness that spread from it was enough to shake off the lingering sleep. I opened one of my books and started reading. It continued till 8.00 AM and it was time for breakfast.

My friends and I used to spend some time at our hostel mess, eating, chatting and gossiping.Only two of us went to mess that day, because others were too busy to eat. We hesitated a minute before placing little of the upma onto our plates. After 5 minutes, we were back and I had started studying with that upma taste at the back of my mouth.

The clock soon showed 1.30 PM. Time for lunch. Sunday lunches were always a special affair for us. In fact, sunday in itself held a special place. Sundays were meant for little studying, and more for cleaning our rooms and they solely existed for sunday lunches.

We never visited our hostel mess on sunday afternoons and as soon as we get up, the first thing in our mind would be where to order and what to order for lunch?

But on that day, we visited our mess for lunch and none of us ate well. Not because of the taste of the food, but because of the time left for our examinations.

None of us even noticed the dinner time and it went by soon.

I was sitting on my chair with Davidson’s Principle and Practice of Medicine on my lap and I was going through the previous year question papers. I still had many chapters to complete. This may seem a little odd to a non-medical person. Who would be reading a few hours before exam? We would.

The time was soon past midnight and the chillness had spread everywhere. We all hoped that it had spared the question paper setter’s heart. 

The clock struck 5.00 AM and I was still turning pages with many more to go. It had been 24 hours since I had woken up, and the sleep was begging my eyes to close. After an half an hour of rest, I was up again and everyone looked like people on the day of their death sentence. 

When I was searching for an answer from the previous chapter, my eyes fell on a chapter that I had studied two days back. Pure terror filled through me, when I saw that I couldn’t remember anything. Tiny droplets of tears were ready to face their downfall. I felt that someone had placed a constricting band around me. The whole room seemed to close around me.

 I opened my tiny cupboard and looked at the small statue of my favourite God. I held my hands in prayer and closed my eyes. The tears rolled down and various emotions passed through in that small moment.

                             Fear is something that you should be careful not to let inside you.

                             Once it takes over, you are not responsible for yourself anymore.  

I pacified myself by saying that I had done what I could and there was nothing to fear. I was ready to face the first day of exams.

                                                         During the examination

The chief examiner had announced that I could open the question paper. My hands were shaking and I finally managed to open it. I had a little excitement that ran through me when I opened it. The emotions soon changed into anxiety when I read question after question. I looked at the other faces in the examination hall. No one had looked up from reading the paper and the silence in the hall felt eerie.

I looked at my paper again hoping the letters would change into a new question. Nope. No such luck. The paper remained the same and I slowly took my pen and opened the answer sheet. My brain was not ready yet. I have written many examinations and nothing made me feel dead like that.

I managed to complete it and when I met my friends outside, no one was ready to discuss the paper.

                                                    

                                                       Second day of examination

No difference from the previous day, excepting the fact that, that was not a surprise.

That evening my mind was going through all the chaotic happenings mixed with philosophy. I had my exam the next day too. And I had slept a total of two fours for the past two days and my eyelids were heavy.

That is when, my mind asked a dangerous question, “Why should I study?”

To which, something deep inside me answered, To become a doctor?

“Why should I become one?”

Because, that was and is your ambition!

“Wasn’t  it the worst decision ever?”

Really? Do you think so?

“From my childhood, my aim was to become a doctor. I have always dreamt of it.”

Then, why the sudden change of mind now?

“Because, I have not done my exams well. I tried my best. I have been reading throughout the year. I have been attending all the classes. I have been taking cases throughout. But, why do I feel like that my best efforts always go in vain? A person who studied in the last minute would have given the same set of answers. What would be the difference then? May be studying MBBS was not my cup of tea. I shouldn’t have chosen this!”

Do you think that one exam will be able to estimate your worth? What you have studied throughout the year will help you in the long run. When you treat your cases, it will certainly come handy. Don’t you agree? Do you think that everyone gets a chance to learn this course? If you have been granted an opportunity to read this and have come successfully so far, don’t you think that you are selected to become a doctor? Your ambition was nurtured well and you are working hard to achieve it. you are providing the best efforts you can and you are justifying yourself.

You have an exam today and believe in yourself that you can do well.

First believe in yourself to face the challenges. If you can’t do it, then, who can?

                                            Even the darkest night will end,

                                                and the sun will rise

                                                    -  Victor Hugo

With that the inner voice disappeared. It was not a hallucination where I was hearing voices. It was just the Optimism in me surfacing to give some advice to the pessimist in me.

The past month had been the most depressing period in my life and I am writing this today as Dr.Vaishnavie K. If I had lost hope after a little bumpy ride, I wouldn’t have seen this day in my life. As I was able to remind myself of all the dreams I have dreamt, all the services I wanted to do after becoming a doctor, I was able to go forward.

                            Dream is not that which you see while sleeping,

                                It is something that does not let you sleep.

                                                       -    A.P.J Abdul Kalam

As true as that quote, my dream did not let me sleep and I have achieved it. It gave me hope in despair and whenever, my confidence was down, it showed me a future me fulfilling my dreams and I rebounded with confidence.

All those exams were being so hard, just to give me the title of the ‘doctor’. All those sleepless nights will give me a peaceful sleep today and even on becoming a Doctor, my life is filled with optimism.

When I look back at those days now, I can realise that hard work never fails and it has been proven in my life. Hard work alone didn’t give me this reward. Hard work combined with self confidence has made me what I am today.

I can say million things I would like to do now. As I am happy now, I dream to spread the happiness far and wide. And as Paulo Coelho rightly said in The Alchemist, 

                                   When you really want something,

                       all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.



Share the optimism with the world.

LULLABY

LULLABY

She looked at her child. The child was looking back at her with eyes that could melt anyone.

The mother and the child looked at each other. The baby looked at her as if requesting her not to make him sleep.

Nothing doing! came the mother's reply.

He pouted his lips and made cute eyes at his mother. Though, just looking at her son made her the happiest lady in the world, she really wanted to make him sleep. 

Sleep was just not for his son. 

But the times have changed. She had a new plan that day and she was going to execute it!

She took him in her arms.

He was born before 5 months. After 7 years of marriage and innumerable visits to the infertility clinics, she had given up. But, good things happen only when you least expect it and when she found herself pregnant, her joy knew no bounds. 

The motherhood is the most joyous period in a woman's life and she couldn't wait to see her baby.

After 280 days, Aaditya was born. He was such a sweet boy and she had cried when she first held him in her arms.

Those moments were always etched deep into her heart and soul.

So, when her precious baby cried in the middle of the night, she felt her heart bleed. He used to wake up and cry his heart out. Who can bear to see it? That too, especially a mother? No, she couldn't. 

Though she was ready to spend sleepless nights to make her son sleep, it was just a mystery for her. It was a few days after that she found the reason for her little one's incessant cry. Wet diaper.

She had researched a lot when choosing a diaper. There were many and her mind was overloaded with specifications. But, only the best for her kid, and she was ready to spend the time and energy for it. She had chosen a particular diaper and it looked like she hasn't done a very good job. Weren't those diapers supposed to keep him dry? 

That is when she heard about Pampers. Pampers keeps the baby dry and so the child could enjoy the whole night's sleep without waking up from the wet diaper.

Having found a  solution for her problem, she was sure about her son's good sleep.

As she held her son in her arms then, she felt a surge of emotions running through her. She promised herself that she would make him the greatest person alive, that she will take care of him forever, and much much more. 

Aaditya started recognizing his mother at his 3rd month, and now made a sound, which could very well be called 'cooing'. 

She started talking to him. 

'What does the baby darling want?'

'Don't you want to sleep?' 

And Aaditya, as if he can understand his mother's talk, gave another cooing sound. It was a language that only he and his mother can understand.

She too started making nonchalant sound and he laughed out loud.

'Now, shall we sleep cutie pie?'

And as if giving consent to his mother's request, he gave another cooing.

She made him lie down on the bed and on tickiling him with one hand, she lifted both his legs and in one sweeping motion, the old diaper was off. The soft bottom was wiped clean and it was time for the new Pampers diaper. 

He was laughing the whole time and this just surprised his mom, because it was always crying when changing diapers .

'What made you so happy today?'

'Won't you share it with your mom?'

'Won't you?'

He was laughing, when she had completed replacing the diaper.

The mother and the baby duo laughed heartily and the mother changed his clothes as well. She took him and placed him in his cradle. As soon as she placed him in it, he extended both his hands in an embracing position. 

'What dear? Are you afraid?'

'Amma is here. Amma will be here till you wake up'

Aaditya pouted his lips and was on the verge of crying. She gently started to rock him and started a lullaby. 

Aararo... Aararo...Aariraro,

Kanmaniye... Ponmaniye...

Kannurangu...

Aararo.. Aararo.. Aariraro...

Chella mayile... Pon mayile...

Kannurangu...

Kannurangu...

Aararo.. Aararo... Aariraro...

Kaaninmaniye... 

Kannurangu...

En Chellame.. Kannurangu...
Aararo... Aararo.. Aariraro...
Aararo... Aararo...

The smooth voice calmed him down and the smile returned. He too started rhyming his cooing with her.

Soon, his eyelids became heavy and he was fighting it hard to keep his eyes open. She continued her lullaby and he was finally asleep. 

She gently took his palms and placed it on her cheeks. She looked at him, her baby sleeping with a smile fixed on his face. She wished to God that his smile should forever be there, even when he grew old. She wanted him to be happy always. Happy forever.

She gently kissed the palm of his hand, and this made him to give a stir in his sleep.  When he grew older, he will reciprocate the affection and kisses.

For now, she wanted him to have a good sleep and Pampers will help her achieve it.

She rocked the cradle again for a few minutes and smiled happily at her son.

Her wish had been granted with Pampers.

This post is written for Indiblogger Happy Hours contest for Pampers.

Resurrection!

When we were little, nothing could stop our dreams. Sky was the limit and sometimes, even it couldn't hold us back. Those were the times that we were nourished with ideas. Not just ideas, but dreams, hope, ambition, passion and everything else. 

Growing up consisted of dreaming all one wanted to be. Each day had a different dream and as a child, no one stepped back and doubted their intentions. No constraints. Life used to be an open ground and as far as you can see, you can see just the green grass. 

What happened when adulthood knocked at the gates? It didn't kill the dreams. It just made the dreams less important. It planted priorities in our lives. The passion of that little child lost to the priorities. And finally man lost his life to the priorities.

When was the last time you did something, that actually interested you? How many of us still do that?  

What will you do if you are blessed with a care free life? Conquer the world, fly to Pluto! Everything, right?

Now, coming to the life led by the person typing this. It is not very different from what most do. Instead of burning passion, the passion has been buried. How to resurrect it? We are not well versed with voodoo techniques. 

So, let me do what a mortal can do - Writing the wishes down.

Don't be discouraged to read further. I promise you that my wishes are not crazy. Not crazy enough for me! How crazy can one get? Curious? Read on.
                            
1. The world is such a beautiful thing. It doesn't matter whether you believe in God or not, you have to accept that the creation is an absolute wonder. When the whole world is such an adorable piece of art, how can one sit idle. This is it.
I will travel.

Traveling to different places, eating different food, meeting different people. You get to know their culture, their likes and dislikes as a community, their way of worship. Everything. Everything what the other person does is always interesting. I have heard someone say it. Human beings are one curious bunch of people. May be that is the reason behind my travel instinct, but the final word is, I would like to travel the world. 

By traveling the world, I do not mean going to exotic foreign locations, staying in five star hotels and sipping champagne. In my dictionary, travel means to go exploring.
We have not found even half of the nature's glory.

So, Exploring.

2. In the early days, man used only hand gestures for communication. The sophisticated form of communicating through a language came much later.
Isn't it a wonder? How the people would have made a language? Different people in different areas, yet they speak similar languages. Aren't these making the head go a little fuzy. 

Language. Language is the form of communication. Way of expressing.
My second wish if I could live a care free life is, to learn a new language. As a true Indian, I am familiar with my mother tongue and English. But I want to know more. 

I have always dreamed of knowing at least 5 languages. All the languages completely. By learning the language, you can learn about the human mentality and behavior.
I am not aiming to be an anthropologist, but a new language is such an exciting option.

3. Books. What can I say about them? They are absolutely the love of my life. What if I could make the 'love' a little better?
I must have been seven or eight when I made the decision. 

I have written a short story and when it circulated among the family, resulting in praises for me, I decided that I wanted to be a writer.

If I could live without any worries for the rest of my life, I think I could fulfill the dreams of that seven year old girl. Seeing my name as the author's name is a long standing dream. And I would like to make it into something more than just a dream.

4. The river is flowing slowly. The river bed is looking fertile and the sun is about to set. The sun is seen with a red hazy background. The trees have started to look like a silhouette.

What will I be doing? 

What will I do with a guaranteed happy life?

I would like to see myself etching that stunning scenery. The pencil sketches had always been my favorite. The stroke of the drawing pencil against the matted paper was something to die for. When you have completed a drawing, the happy feeling that spreads within you is simply irreplaceable.

5. Luck. Fortune. Are they even related?
Might be, at least for some. I would say I am fortunate to have seen and enjoyed this much in my life. What about the underprivileged? What wrong did they do? Nothing. Yet, they have to struggle to get a morsel of food, that you are yet to appreciate. 

If my life is going to be happy enough, I would like to make some other people happy too. I cannot play God, but I can do my part.
I can teach a child for free. I can start a school for them. I can sponsor some children.
You can ask me whether I can do all these now? Why not?

But, Charity begins at home.
Only if you are steady and happy, you can take others into your wing.

When I sat down to think about what I wanted to do, I never thought I will come up with this. But I have. I have surprised myself.

So, come on! Go and make yourself a wish list and proceed on towards fulfilling it.
Now, which one should I do first?
#BefikarUmarBhar

Quikr Nxt

A few years back, shopping existed in only one form and that certainly was not the online way. This era could very well be called as the era of Online Shopping.
Online shopping gives you the comfort of shopping at your place, at your time and pace. You can buy it or you can skip it for a better one. The life is full of options and online shopping gives you many such options.
Quikr is one such online shopping portal. It offers you services according to your place. You can access it from your computer as well as from your mobile. It offers various products. You can use it to find a house for rent as well as for sale. You can find a new or a used product from various sellers from your city.
You can go through the pictures provided and select one according to your preferences.
Now Quickr has an other feature. Which is Quickr Nxt - a chat option.
Whenever you look at an item, your mind is filled with all possible questions.

According to me, the 3 advantages that the Quickr Nxt chat option has over the conventional phone conversation is as follows.

The first advantage would be

Sharing of photos instantly

Even though the specifications would be mentioned in the ad for a product or house, you will definitely have something more to ask. If you have been looking for a house, you can contact the seller through the Quikr Nxt chat option and ask for even more photos. You can ask for the view of the whole house or the view of a particular room. The seller can send you the photos immediately and if it is to your liking, you can proceed with your purchase.
Even though you can call and clear your clarifications, it will certainly not be as satisfying as seeing a picture.

And the second one is

The Backup

Not all of us are blessed with photographic memory. The Quikr Nxt chat option also has an other useful feature. It saves all the chat you have done. And as I have said above, you can share images. As soon as you get the picture you had requested, you see once or twice. But later when you are sitting idle in front of the television, your brain wakes up and reminds you that you have missed some important information. That is when Quikr Nxt comes in useful. You can go and revisit your chat history. The pictures will be there. The details will be there. You don't have to worry about forgetting the intricate details.
But when you call and talk to a person for any query, it is human nature to forget little details later. So, in this criteria the chat option certainly has the advantage.

And the third one would be

Do not wait

We are living in a very busy world and we certainly cannot expect anyone to be extremely free all the time. Whether you are using the Quikr Nxt feature as a buyer or as a seller, you need not wait for the other person to pick his or her call. The person might be busy and as a result she might be unavailable to take your calls. If there is no chat feature, you just have the option of calling. And when you ultimately decide to purchase from that seller and call the person to settle the deal, the seller might be not available to pick your call. You might try once or twice and then you will fret and leave that deal. Some might even consider things like these as a bad omen and that would be the end of it. But a good deal might have been lost for both the buyer and the seller.

When you are using the Quikr Nxt option, you can send a message to the seller and you can do your own work. The seller will surely reply as soon as he or she is available. Then you can settle the deal. A good offer wouldn't be lost anymore.

You can also use the Quikr Nxt feature in both your mobile and desktop.

Although the Quikr Nxt feature offers many advantages, I found the above three to be the best features. These three will make the chat feature certainly useful and even more beneficial for the prospective buyers and sellers.

This post is written for the Quikr NXT Happy Hour at Indiblogger.

The Great Indian Litterbug

THE GREAT INDIAN LITTERBUG

Who is he?
He is the great Indian Litterbug

Where can you see him?
Everywhere. In the mirror, perhaps?

What does he do?
This is such a difficult question.
He does nothing absolutely out of law.

You can see him everywhere - on the road, at home and everywhere your field of vision allows you

You can see him watch our PM talking about Swachh Bharath with intense awe and with the same awe he will throw his empty chip pack on the street.

You can see him cleaning his home with the robotic cleaner and all the disposal he does is on the corner of his street near the dustbin. He can never dispose in the dustbin because it is just too much hardwork. And also he can never keep the garbage at his home because he has to pray. But the world outside can be littered as people don't pray outside and there is some sort of feeling arising within him that says he should feel free to litter as soon as 1 mm from his home. Now, how can he ignore the inside voices? He is religious!

You can see him getting enthusiastic about the eco-green projects and he never minds blessing the plants with plastic. They must like it, right? P for P and all that.

You can see him aiming his empty cola can at a distance away and heavens bless him, he never gets his aim right. The bin remains empty though it has the cola cans nearby for it's company.

You can see him smoking like a chimney and alas his father is coming his way and the half smoked cigarette has fallen to the ground. The half smoked cigarettes really are so lazy because you can see them not moving even ages after.

You can see him chewing gums. The poor soul wants to get rid of his smoking habit. And he fixes his chewed gum everywhere so that he can raise awareness to reduce the smoking habits! What a compassionate soul! We really must need people like him, don't we?

You can see him admiring our national heritage. He wants to become as famous as Akbar and Birbal and he paints his own name on the walls. And by that he makes sure that he will be etched on to history forever or at least until the whitewash. Don't forget to read about him the next time you visit the history section in your library!

You can see him chewing betel leaves. It is our Indian thing and he religiously follows it. He is so good at drawing and sometimes when he couldn't find paints and brushes, he uses his betel paint, the most natural paint in the world!

You can see him standing before a wall. He likes them so much that he uses them as his canvas. Even the greatest painters like Picasso and da Vinci will be ashamed when they look at it. India has been having him and we never appreciated him, did we? Kudos!!

He is the great Indian Litterbug for you.

Next time you see him, don't forget to wish him! He may be right behind you or he may be in front you or was I talking the whole time about you?

Having read about the most patriotic person ever, do you feel the urge to follow him or do you think you are different?

Tell me how different you are!

This post is written for The Great Indian Litterbug Contest by Times of India in association with Indiblogger.