Of The Optimistic Outlook...

She has filled my life with wonders. Right from the day I stepped into her life, she is not only my Mother, but also my best friend. She has been my mentor, my guide, my coach and my trainer for life. Each of the lessons taught by her are brimming of practicality. For every new avenue that we are to cross, she prefers that I cross it on my own, even if it is the first time so that whatever possible mistake can be made, is made indeed. This way she nullifies the prospect of any mistake from my end for the same task when I face it the next time. Also, gradually I have learned that this activity zeroes in on a psychological fear from your mind and heart. You must gather the courage and the confidence to take up new avenues, head to head.

I remember my first day at playschool. Before dropping me at the school, she made sure that she requested my teacher to take care, during lunchtime that I don’t skip mine. She knew that it would be difficult for me to have my lunch without her by my side, but she was able to make me understand well how important it was to have your meals in time. She correlated it nicely with a car which can’t run without petrol. The human body also needs nourished food to work, think and play. She told me how important it was to play, balancing it with academia and with the extracurricular activities.  It is with her guidance that I have been able to excel not only in academics, but also in sports, debates, quizzes, and other myriad competitions. Gradually, during my early education days, she used to narrate exemplarily, Indian mythological stories to fill me with inspiration and motivation. She also used to tell me about the great history of our country and our ancient heritage.

She ensured that I visit and garner knowledge about all the important historical places across the nation. For accomplishing this task, we decided to go for a vacation every six months right since my childhood, and every time we would visit a new location so that I was able to learn more about that location and its culture. We all know how diverse Indian culture is, and that is why it becomes more important to learn about each and every state of my country.  She has put in her best efforts to provide best opportunities to me. Under her excellent guidance, I have been able to become a multifaceted girl. I am sure, what she has done for me no one else would have been able to do.

She has been the biggest contributor to my momentum, knowledge, learning and wisdom. I dedicate to her, each of my achievements as she is the biggest, the strongest and the sturdiest building block in my life. She is my ray of hope and optimism for life and beyond.

The most recent moment of seeing the glass as half full, was when I had to appear for my entrance examination after my Board Examination. It was the time when I needed her guidance the most, and she was there to accompany me through all the ups and downs, to ultimately excel in what I had set out to pursue! :)

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This post has been written as a part of Indi Happy Hours' #LookUp in association with Housing and IndiBlogger.

#GoSleek!

I am your regular college going student.

Add to it the fact that I spend a good three hours in commuting to college from home and back home, from college.

Also add to it, the fact that I'm pursuing my graduation in a technical field.

For, this requires me to carry my laptop, or any such equivalent device, with me, on the go, very often.

If the travelling time wasn't a good enough constraint, the laptop's weight adds to my inability to carry it around for prolonged periods of time, like a nine to five day at college.

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I was amazed to see that ASUS has come out with two new devices, one of which suits my needs perfectly and drives away my constraints, too!

The EeeBook X205TA is a student's pride, if I may say so.

It is a boon...

In terms of its weight, its design, its bundled software, its life, or its speed.

This device scores high on all aspects.

First things first.

It is as light as a feather and weighs less than a kilogram!

Now, I would not have any qualms about carrying it to college, and hurting my shoulders.

I would not feel burdened by my laptop's weight if I switch over to the EeeBook.

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Second, it is powered by Intel.

Enough said.

A hands down winner, it is! :)

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Its battery life is just excellent.

Apart from the fact that this feature enables me to code AND blog all day long, it also has a thirteen hour standby for playing music, which means that I can relax myself after a long day of tiring activities. That too, by the time I reach home, or even beyond that!

Another important feature is that it comes bundled with Microsoft Office 365, for an entire year!

That means, all my assignments and presentations are being taken care of, for two LONG semesters!

What more could I possibly ask for?

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Wait.

There is another factor to keep in mind.

It is the most important one, at that!

The Price! :D

After all, I'm not paying for my laptop myself.

Am I?

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No, I am not.

My parents are.

Yes.

It is my prerogative to consider that my selection must be the most economical one too.

The X205TA does not disappoint, when they say that it comes adorned with a price tag of Rs. 14,999!

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It is a win-win situation for me.

It is a win-win situation for my parents.

It is a win-win situation for ASUS, with the kind of product, that they have launched.

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The other device from under ASUS's flagship is the All In One PC ET2040.

It is a family's device.

It is a work and home integrating device.

With its Intel powered processor, unmatched responsiveness and the gesture control innovation, it would be a great addition to our devices at home!

I must say, I'm really impressed by ASUS India, and their limitless innovations in the field of technology.

First, the Zen Phone, then the T100, and now, these two devices, set to burn the market!

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P.S. : The images have been taken from the X205TA product page, on Flipkart.

This post has been written as a part of Indi Happy Hours' #GoSleek in association with ASUS India and IndiBlogger. Linking it with their two, most stylish and powerful products - ASUS EeeBook X205TA and ASUS All In One PC ET2040

Short Story: #CupidGames, With Love!

This is the story of Ritu, Sumit, and Akshat.

Three undergraduates, pursuing their graduation in Arts, from St. Stephen's, New Delhi.

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Ritu and Akshat were school friends turned college batch-mates.

And, Sumit was another batch-mate. He was the most energetic, lively and joyful person of their batch.

~~~

Ritu was a simpleton. Akshat was studious, and Sumit was the carefree soul.

Somehow, Ritu felt  herself drawing close to Sumit's liveliness and his mannerisms.

His courteousness, and chivalry used to attract the romantic within Ritu.

~~~

Sumit's affability and amicable nature made her feel that the sparks were taking flight from either side.

She had set her mind on it.

She had started visualizing Sumit as her Prince Charming.

And, Valentine's was to arrive in a week's time.

~~~

This coincidence strengthened Ritu's belief.

For the Couples' Night on Cupid's Day, her intuition was hinting towards a memorable evening.

~~~

When V-Day did arrive, Ritu was left dismayed, in reality.

Sumit had indeed proposed to a girl of his liking for the Night.

But, that girl, of Sumit's liking was NOT Ritu.

~~~

Ritu was heart-broken and left for home.

She felt she had been misunderstood by Sumit.

She did not attend college for  the entire next week.

~~~

Akshat had been a silent observer all through.

He suspected something fishy.

Since Akshat and Ritu were neighbors, he decided to pay her a visit.

He went to visit her, with all his notes from the bygone week's classes.

~~~

Turns out, Ritu had sunk into depression, and had fallen ill!

Her mother too, was worried.

More so, because Ritu refused to express a reason for such a pitiable state, she had made herself suffer through.

Akshat was Ritu's best friend.

He tried to talk her into becoming her normal self once again.

He tried to divert her mind from that episode by telling her all about what had happened in college for the time that she had been absent.

He also helped her cover up the lag in academics, which had been caused owing to her absence.

~~~

Ritu resumed college within a couple of days.

Although, she wasn't able to completely erase Sumit's episode and his misunderstanding, Ritu still made an effort to distance herself from Sumit and that saddening incident.

~~~

She tried reviving her old self, by concentrating on her studies.

She didn't realize it, but since Akshat was the most diligent student in their batch, more often than not, Ritu used to discuss academics with  Akshat.

They'd started spending time over long study sessions as exams neared.

Akshat had started developing a liking for Ritu...

~~~

In no time, Valentine's 2015 arrived.

Akshat had decided to express his feelings for Ritu, this time.

But, Ritu had decided to stay away from college.

For the Couples' Night would arouse the shattered Ritu, from within.

~~~

2015 was meant to be their last academic year, after which Akshat, Ritu, and all the other batch-mates would be awarded with their degrees.

Akshat did not want to let go of this last opportunity at any cost.

For, it could be the last time that he and Ritu were together.

For, they never knew where destiny was going to take them after this phase in life.

~~~

He knew that Ritu was not going to come for the Couples' Night at any cost.

So, Akshat decided to take Ritu to her favorite restaurant on the pretext of having to meet some common school friends.

~~~

There, he had ordered for a private setting, with a heart shaped cake, and some red roses, beforehand.

He led her to that special setting.

Ritu stood stunned!

He was afraid of proposing Ritu, at first.

But, then...

Akshat gathered himself together and finally presented the big statement to her...

I Love You...

....He said.

And, when he was least expecting it...

Ritu said Yes. :)

~~~

Somewhere in the corner of her mind, and at the blind spot of her eye, Ritu too had realized that Akshat was meant to be her True Love, her Prince Charming! :)

The rest as they say, is History!

~~~

This post has been written as a part of Indi Happy Hours' #CupidGames in association with Close Up India and IndiBlogger.

Hide 'n' Seek With Sparrow...

I was around six. We had a small market complex in our neighborhood. The market was closed that day being its weekly off and therefore there were no walk-ins. That weekly off was the happiest day for us, kids, as we had full access to the vicinity to play around in that area. There were plenty of games for us, being tiny-tots. Hide
and Seek was a unanimous favorite. So, we decided to go for it, as usual. It was three in the afternoon, winter time, and the day was quite cold. The only relief was a mild warmth from the Sun's rays and the three sweaters which Mom had forcefully put on me. It is quite true that the number of warm clothes worn by a child is directly proportional to the intensity of winter felt by his/her mother. ^_^

The game started as per our set of rules, tweaked to suit our game! The youngest among us would be the last to get the turn to seek. This rule was advantageous for me as I was the second youngest one out of the seven of us. Rakshita Di was the eldest among us and she had to start counting while keeping her eyes closed and face turned in the opposite direction. We all had to hide at different locations, meanwhile. The conventional rule says that if the seeker is able to find all hidden players, the first player found from the hiding will have to take next turn to seek. But here the rule had been tweaked, based on which the turn to play as a seeker was already set and finalized.

Rakshita Di started counting with her eyes closed  and we started running towards the market complex to hide at various places. Rakshita Di was at the entrance of the market. I moved towards the right lane of shops and decided to hide behind the third shop in the row. Just as Rakshita Di finished counting till 10, and we all settled to our respective hiding place, I heard a very low chirping sound, quite weak in tone but apparently, from a nearby place. I looked around and found a sparrow, fallen on the ground, not even able to stand properly. Its beak was open. To me, it appeared as if it was not well and was thirsty, due to weakness and mild fever may be. It was not able to take flight, or even move around, to search for water.

I took it on my palm and started searching for water. I noticed a tap outside a florist's shop. I opened it and put some drops of water inside the beak of that weak birdie but to no avail. The sparrow by then, perhaps, had died as it was totally motionless, still and lifeless. I was afraid and dropped the bird right there, on the road. I felt guilty, as if I had killed the bird. I left the game and went home.

For two days I was very silent, lost and only one episode was hovering around in my mind - day in and day out -the bird and how it had died because of me. But, by the end of the day, I could not take it anymore and decided to narrate the entire incident to Mom and ask for her opinion - if I was really the culprit. I told her the truth.

Probably, that was a good decision because Mom, after listening to the whole story consoled me that I was not the culprit and the bird in the given circumstance, had to die. In fact she praised me for my effort to save the bird’s life. She told me that if I had not picked it up and tried to help the bird, probably some animal – a dog or cat would have eaten it there and then only. At least I tried to save the life of that poor bird with all my good intentions.

The entire conversation with Mom was a lesson, and a relief for my guilt - stricken conscience. :)

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Written for Kinley and IndiBlogger.

Winning Over Fear...

Frank Herbert rightly said - "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration."

Fear, in my opinion, cripples the mind and paralyzes the body.

But once you conquer your fear, you're like the gold which has passed the test of fire...

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Jean-Paul Sartre opined - " To know what life is worth, you have to risk it once in a while? "

Life, at every twist and turn, presents us with a new risk, to tackle an unfounded fear...

If we win over that fear, we'll progress ahead, happily.

If we don't, though, we'll turn out wise and take a lesson.

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A toddler, for instance, risks bruising his/her knees, while tackling the fear of his inability to walk.
Gradually, while holding on to a support, be it the mother's hand or, certain inanimate objects around home.

If he/she falls and bruises the knees, someone is there, somewhere to motivate him/her to get up and continue to make an effort...
If he/she takes the baby steps successfully, sky becomes the limit for the toddler's confidence! ^_^

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And then, there are kids who cry on going to school, for the first time...

That is the next level for them, the first step to be taken into the outside world.

They risk a certain individuality, budding inside them, fearing isolation in a new world and an inability to familiarize themselves with the novelty.

Of course, this fear is gradually conquered, for each of us, in spite of all the crying and the cribbing...

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After those twelve years of schooling and three or four or even, five years of attending college, comes the opportunity of taking up a job...

At risk, is the fear of an inability to impress the interviewer, with the knowledge acquired, all these years...

If the interview is cleared and the job is taken up, the fear of being incompetent, as far as the academic background is concerned, is driven away...

If it isn't, the interviewee learns a lesson, and must polish on his academic skills and his inter-personal skills too...

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After having taken up various job profiles over the years, and having embraced several titles, posts and positions, the next phase to embrace in life, is that of retirement...

To lead the life of a 'Senior Citizen' is no mean feat to achieve, too...

Life, at this stage, comes with its own risks and fears...

But the biggest fear in life, is yet to surface...

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The biggest fear in an individual's life, as he/she embraces senility, is the fear of Death...

The fear of having to leave the loved ones behind...

The fact that the Future is unpredictable...

The fear of dying a disturbing death, is what disturbs the aged soul, the most...

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But Lord Buddha guides us...

" Even death is not to be feared by the one who has lived wisely. "

It has also been said...

" Feed your Faith, and your fears will Starve to death. "

That is the ideology which we all must embrace...

We must keep taking risks, to conquer our fears, and achieve success...

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Written for Mountain Dew and IndiBlogger.

3X Olympic Golds, Courtesy 3X Immunity...

Aastha had just returned from the 2012 Olympics with Three Gold Medals for India in various formats of the Women’s Swimming Event.  Aastha is as close to me as my family, for as many years as I remember. She is a couple of months younger to me.  Pa and Ma had often narrated to me, their first interaction with Aastha.

All of it begun at the time of her birth. Aastha’s parents had shifted from Mumbai to Delhi, when her mother was 7 months pregnant. Her father had been promoted to the post of a Branch Manager for the bank he was employed at and hence the transfer, as per the norms of the Bank. Her mother was working with an MNC as a cyber-crime specialist, at that time, but she had resigned from her job a few months back.

God had some unique plans for Aastha, scripted well before her birth. Aastha’s mother was admitted in an emergency, to my Pa’s Super Specialty Child Care Nursing Home. A month before her estimated birth date, a premature Aastha was welcomed among us all.

Pa is a Child Specialist and was operating his state-of-the-art Nursing Home in the heart of the city. Ma, a gynecologist, was heading the Child and Women Department of our Nursing Home and had a team of expert doctors to handle any kind of emergencies.

Somehow, when Aastha’s mother was admitted, early that morning, Ma decided to supervise over her, citing the compications of the case.  Aastha weighed 1.7 Kgs at the time of her birth and hence had to be sent to the Nursery immediately.

Somehow, by the grace of God and with proper medical attention from Ma and her Team, Aastha survived. Aastha’s parents were so overwhelmed by Mom’s expertise and care that they decided Ma would be Mom to Aastha as well. Now, Aastha would have motherly attention from two ladies, who cared for her, to the core.

So, as Aastha and I grew together, we had two families, to look after us!  

When Aastha was 1.5 years old, she begun taking baby steps. Pa noticed a certain weakness in her limbs and advised Aastha’s father  to give her some nutritional herbs to help her recover from that weakness. Till that time Aastha had had very less movement and had not even started uttering her first words. The advised herbs and other nutritional supplements suggested by Pa for Aastha were abundantly present in Dabur Chyavanprash.

Pa suggested a small dosage, initially, for her.  With the regular intake of Chyavanprash  Aastha’s movement started improving, and she progressed to become an active child. Within six months she uttered her first words  – Ma.

Aastha’s taste buds had become so accustomed to Dabur Chyavanprash that till date Aastha is fond of it and never skips the daily routine of taking it twice, during a day. Gradually,  Aastha’s health started improving so fast, with requisite effort, of course, that at age 8, she bagged the First Prize in a swimming competition held at school. It was her first First Prize. :)

Improvement in her immunity, over time, aided Aastha to excel both in studies and sports at the same time. By the time she reached her fifth standard, she was far ahead of her peers, as an athelete, and even topped in her final exams.

And then there was no looking back. Soon, she became the State Champion in Swimming in the Junior Category! Alongside, there was no compromise with excelling in studies as well.

And, the rest, as they say, is history! :)