Old because of his age. He must be in his sixties. He is short and wears spectacles. I cant really tell from his face whether he recognizes me. But, everytime we see each other, there is a warm smile on his face and he waves his hand at me. I can't help myself but to reciprocate with a smile and a wave.
Young because of his body language. He is always smiling. I have not seen many people of his age behaving in the manner he does. He must have seen many ups and downs in his life and must have had his share of bad days as well. But, if you see or meet him, he seems to be enjoying life at its fullest.
It's an amazing feeling when someone whom you dont know does that to you on a regular basis. Suddenly, makes you feel so important. My funny little old young man does this to all the people he sees or meets. I have to walk about 500 meters to the place where I have to wait or my office bus. This person meets me in the way or I see him when I am waiting for my bus. Seeing and meeting him in the morning makes my day. The day I dont see him makes me feel like I am missing something. The whole lot of positive energy he sends across, really makes me smile. It really makes me feel like the world is a very happy place to live in. This man sends a strong message across; " Life is full of happiness, so enjoy it to the fullest extent !". Amazing it is, really.
He really is an inspiration to live and enjoy life. Full of positive energy, always smiling at everyone. If all human beings would have been like that, the world would have been much more happier place to live in. My little old young man displays humanity at its stupendous best. God does exist. This is how God shows us his existence in human form. If we open our eyes and observe, the world is full of such creations. Always keep your eyes open. God can be seen, felt or noticed in any form.
Note: Some people may find this a litte too abstract. But, my feelings about this man can only be understood completely, if you see him or someone similar to him.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Necessity is the mother of invention
This happened when we were staying in Baroda during the scorching summer of May 2004. Once when Isha (my younger niece) was about 8 years old, she came to me and asked that she needs help in her homework to write a Hindi Poem. This was a task given as a Hindi homework for the summer vacations. I believe she was in IInd then. I could not believe that this task of writing a poem was given to an 8 year old kid. Well in those days if there was some awkward homework task given to Isha she always used to come to me to get it done. And in those days I learned something from small children. They never think anything is impossible. When she asked for this hindi poem, I was like "Poem!!!, baby, It's not my cup of tea, impossible for me." Children never think anything is impossible. It’s only the up-bringing which teaches them that things are impossible. Isha could not take no for an answer. I was never able to convince her that it is impossible for me to write a poem. She was always so sweet that she would never throw tantrums in front of me, but I could always understand that if I could not fulfil her demand she is going to be upset.
The incident made me think a lot. I did remember that I had written short 4 liners when I was in class XIth for our seniors in Hindi for their farewell. It was a tradition that each of the senior was given a nickname and a short rhyming 4 liners were written in their honour and handed over to them after announcing them during the farewell. I do remember creating those 4 liners in Hindi for about 12-15 senior guys. Necessity was the mother of invention. Since no one else came forward to take the responsibility, I took the onus on me and did it that time. Same was the case now. I motivated myself to think that, "Man! You have done it before. If you try it can be done again."
So I was at the task and this poem was created when for some reason I was at the MS University of Baroda, waiting for someone and I had enough time with me. Suddenly out of nowhere this thought of using animal (as children love animal stories) as the central character of the poem came to mind and following is my creation.
********************************************************
सयाना हाथी
एक था हाथी बडा सयाना
उसके थे नानी और नाना
नाम का उसके नही ठिकाना
बहुत सारा वह खाता था खाना
एक दिन वह गया नदी पर
बहुत सारा था पानी वहा पर
पानी देख उसके मन में आया
चलो नहा लू पर घबराया
अगर पानी में होगा घडीयाल
तो मैं बचूंगा ना मेरे बाल
सूझभूझ उसने दिखालायी
जोर कि एक आवाज लागाई
सुनकर आवाज आया घडीयाल
हाथी बोला भैया वच गए बाल बाल
सही समय पर अकल लगाई
हाथी ने अपनी जान बचाई
*************************************************
It would be worthwhile to notice that when I gave this poem to Isha, she did not like it :) :). She had her own doubts whether her teacher would approve this funny little poem. I was shattered. My first creation and first reaction to it was disapproval :). But, I was so proud of my creation that I somehow convinced her, that this is the best I could write and she had to adjust with this for now. My sweet little niece agreed. But, I do not know whether after the summer vacations her Hindi teacher asked for the poem and whether Isha had the courage to hand over this poem to her teacher. I didn't even inquire about it.
Necessity is the mother of invention. How true?
The incident made me think a lot. I did remember that I had written short 4 liners when I was in class XIth for our seniors in Hindi for their farewell. It was a tradition that each of the senior was given a nickname and a short rhyming 4 liners were written in their honour and handed over to them after announcing them during the farewell. I do remember creating those 4 liners in Hindi for about 12-15 senior guys. Necessity was the mother of invention. Since no one else came forward to take the responsibility, I took the onus on me and did it that time. Same was the case now. I motivated myself to think that, "Man! You have done it before. If you try it can be done again."
So I was at the task and this poem was created when for some reason I was at the MS University of Baroda, waiting for someone and I had enough time with me. Suddenly out of nowhere this thought of using animal (as children love animal stories) as the central character of the poem came to mind and following is my creation.
********************************************************
सयाना हाथी
एक था हाथी बडा सयाना
उसके थे नानी और नाना
नाम का उसके नही ठिकाना
बहुत सारा वह खाता था खाना
एक दिन वह गया नदी पर
बहुत सारा था पानी वहा पर
पानी देख उसके मन में आया
चलो नहा लू पर घबराया
अगर पानी में होगा घडीयाल
तो मैं बचूंगा ना मेरे बाल
सूझभूझ उसने दिखालायी
जोर कि एक आवाज लागाई
सुनकर आवाज आया घडीयाल
हाथी बोला भैया वच गए बाल बाल
सही समय पर अकल लगाई
हाथी ने अपनी जान बचाई
*************************************************
It would be worthwhile to notice that when I gave this poem to Isha, she did not like it :) :). She had her own doubts whether her teacher would approve this funny little poem. I was shattered. My first creation and first reaction to it was disapproval :). But, I was so proud of my creation that I somehow convinced her, that this is the best I could write and she had to adjust with this for now. My sweet little niece agreed. But, I do not know whether after the summer vacations her Hindi teacher asked for the poem and whether Isha had the courage to hand over this poem to her teacher. I didn't even inquire about it.
Necessity is the mother of invention. How true?
Irresponsible Innovation
Volkswagen Vento Ad in Today's Times of India Pune Edition (Dated: Sep,21,2010)
Soon as I opened the newspaper today morning, I was startled as I could hear someone speaking. In that split second innumerable thoughts came to my mind, till I discovered a small piece of plastic attached to the Volkswagen ad that had a speaker and the sound was coming from it. All it was speaking was about the new Volkswagen Vento which was going on endlessly in a loop. The first thing that I tried with it was how to stop this irritating sound. Within seconds I found out that it has a light sensor attached to it so that when we close the opening of that sensor, it stopped. Cool, I got the mechanism of its working. But, as soon as I started reading the newspaper again, the irritating advertisement started all over again. Thanks to this ad, for the first time I read the news items of the Pune Times before the Main TOI newspaper. I had to finally tear out the piece of plastic from the paper and put it to rest by putting it upside down.
All the time a thought that came to my mind was how many TOI copies would have been supplied all over Pune today. The more the number, means the more tons of non biodegradable waste. True, that the advertisement was innovative and it must have caught everyone's attention, but, why could not anyone think about this simple thing. Volkswagen who talk about low emission or zero emission technology could not even think about the consequences their advertisement will have on the environment. This is such an irresponsible behavior. Having said that, I did not expect the renowned newspaper like Times of India to carry this ad and encourage such ventures. A German company creating an ad which would be having a huge impact on the environment in India and a respectable newspaper like TOI helping in such irresponsible behavior is something I could not believe. It should be strongly objected from all the quarters of people reading the newspaper. If this kind of things are encouraged, very soon we are all going to see audible newspapers and tons and tons of non-biodegradable waste. In today's time, when we are already facing so many consequences of Global warming, should this kind of irresponsible behavior be tolerated?
Soon as I opened the newspaper today morning, I was startled as I could hear someone speaking. In that split second innumerable thoughts came to my mind, till I discovered a small piece of plastic attached to the Volkswagen ad that had a speaker and the sound was coming from it. All it was speaking was about the new Volkswagen Vento which was going on endlessly in a loop. The first thing that I tried with it was how to stop this irritating sound. Within seconds I found out that it has a light sensor attached to it so that when we close the opening of that sensor, it stopped. Cool, I got the mechanism of its working. But, as soon as I started reading the newspaper again, the irritating advertisement started all over again. Thanks to this ad, for the first time I read the news items of the Pune Times before the Main TOI newspaper. I had to finally tear out the piece of plastic from the paper and put it to rest by putting it upside down.
All the time a thought that came to my mind was how many TOI copies would have been supplied all over Pune today. The more the number, means the more tons of non biodegradable waste. True, that the advertisement was innovative and it must have caught everyone's attention, but, why could not anyone think about this simple thing. Volkswagen who talk about low emission or zero emission technology could not even think about the consequences their advertisement will have on the environment. This is such an irresponsible behavior. Having said that, I did not expect the renowned newspaper like Times of India to carry this ad and encourage such ventures. A German company creating an ad which would be having a huge impact on the environment in India and a respectable newspaper like TOI helping in such irresponsible behavior is something I could not believe. It should be strongly objected from all the quarters of people reading the newspaper. If this kind of things are encouraged, very soon we are all going to see audible newspapers and tons and tons of non-biodegradable waste. In today's time, when we are already facing so many consequences of Global warming, should this kind of irresponsible behavior be tolerated?
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