Becoming Rich! :)

I took up an IT job in the beginning of my career. Worked in India for 3 years and then got married to my husband, who was working in US at that time.

But that’s not what made me rich… 😀

Then I took a break in my career for 4 months…. I tried various cooking recipes… made dal makhni for my husband that he loved in the early days of our marriage… I spent my time decorating the house… learning to run the dishwasher… managing household responsibilities and yes… I did enjoy the snow… with lots of friends!! That made my life rich… 🙂

Then I took up a job and worked a lot. I changed my job after about 10 months. Then I took up another job and met some very good co-workers. We used to go for team outings and lunches… ! Not to forget… my dad came to meet me from India and saw my office. He also met my boss… Those fun times made me rich…

One time, when we were going from Indiana to North Carolina, our car broke down in the wilderness of West Virginia on Thanksgiving weekend. There was absolutely no one to help us. We called 911 and they sent a tow truck to tow our car. To our bigger surprise, the truck driver’s truck was not functioning well… so he took us through some winding roads to an unknown place…. which happened to be a repair shop. They checked our car and said, just leave your car here, “We’ll fix it”. We left our car there and they dropped us to our hotel. At the hotel, I called my mommy and my daddy telling them all about what was happening to us and that we were still alive!… Finally we got our car back the next day and that experience surely made us rich!!

Then after an year or so, we moved to DC. To our surprise, the apartment that we moved in had no heat running. So we were sitting in the winter cold with no heat. The next morning, my husband had to join work, so he asked ME… yes ME… to go to the power department’s office in DC all by myself and get heat fixed… The next day… I figured out the train routes by myself… got on the train and reached DC and got things sorted out. That experience made me rich!

We welcomed our daughter when she was born in Virginia in 2013 and that experience surely made us very very rich!

Then I took another break in my career…spent an year with my daughter at home…. watched everything that she did… how she grew up ….and when my husband would come home from work, we would wave from the balcony….and get excited! That experience made him rich! 😉

I went on walks with my daughter in the stroller… took her to the library for story times… had playdates with neighbors’ kids… and a lot more… I enjoyed her childhood to the maximum…

We celebrated our daughter’s birthday parties… with friends… and she had a great time…

We made some very good friends in both Indiana and DC, who are still in touch with us and THAT made us rich!

Then after a few years, we moved to New Jersey…  My daughter joined preschool and I would often finish work early and sneak out to pick her up early….

Just watching all the kids playing in the playground…. was so peaceful and mesmerizing for my eyes…. I just watched life thrive… and loved it. That experience made me rich!

I learned a lot of meditation while staying at home and that experience made me more aware and rich!

We celebrated halloween, diwali, dussehra, christmas and so many other festivals…. and also the fun performances of kids at school… They were all so so great….

Then I took up a job and worked for 1.5 years…. I let the people younger than me take the lead and they did a great job…. There was lots of cultural exchange at office and that’s what made me rich!

I took some breaks in my career and sat in my backyard enjoying the sun…. I LOVE THE SUN!!!!!…. and that made me ultra rich!  🙂 🙂 🙂  (That’s why I love Florida!!)

We took our daughter to Disneyworld and that was an amazing trip which made us rich.

I also worked for an Indian company, met some great Indian co -workers… Every few months, someone or the other would travel to India and get Indian sweets….yummm…!!

I look forward to more new experiences in life…. More SUN for sure… More Food 😀 😀 😀
and more free things….

Coz…. I know one thing that it’s actually the FREE things in life that make you rich….

Enjoying Waves near the beach…. Basking in the sun…. Just being happy with Nature….

That’s what makes everyone RICH!!

(Oops…sorry… I didn’t really talk about money in this article if that’s what you were looking for…)

Enjoy life…. Enjoy every moment with whatever limited resources we all have!! 🙂

 

 

One best friend

There is one best friend that stays with us all our life…. each moment… every minute…. every single day… from our birth… till the time of our death …. and that is Mother Earth.

Every step we take…. is supported by the Earth. Each moment, right from childhood till our last breath, Mother Earth supports us. And even after we die, our ashes get dissolved into Mother Earth.

From a living being, we turn back into the source of life, the Earth. Later…what form we may …or may not take…. remains a mystery.

The plants absorb food from the earth and create fruits and vegetables. Human beings eat those fruits and vegetables and then create their offspring. So do animals… and the food chain continues.

Whatever there is and there can be…. is on this earth. The planet is surrounded by a thin layer of atmosphere that supports life…. Without this thin onion layer… life cannot exist.

We grow, we evolve and we die but this Mother Earth never leaves our hand. It catches us whenever we fall…. it leads us on the right path and it gives us opportunities to love, to grow, to wonder, to know, to laugh,  to be kind…. and just believe that it’s all in our mind!

This is the only best friend we can expect to have every minute of our life.

Everything that humans create is extracted from the earth…. whether it is clothes or metals or gold or diamond….

The earth is the giver and we are mere receivers…. begging the earth to give us more and more and more…

We have to learn to give back to the earth… to our only best friend…

Thank you earth for accepting all my good and not so good steps…

Thank you for supporting me and all the other fellow human beings inspite of their color, caste or creed… And inspite of their good, bad and ugly deeds….

Thank you for forgiving… thank you for loving…

I hope we all can believe in one world…. one earth and behave like Global citizens of this beautiful planet…

May the earth live and flourish forever and ever…

Why does everyone get separated?

We all are guests on this planet. We come here for a short while and then we have to go, where… , no one knows.

A lot of people believe in rebirths but no matter how many theoretical proofs we may give, it cannot be scientifically proven.

In our lifetime, the first people we meet are our parents. Then we meet other family members, friends, co-workers, colleagues and so on.

What we sometimes don’t realize is that, every relationship has a separation or expiry date attached to it, no matter how close.

We have to separate and part from all our relationships gradually… and in the end, we have to separate from our own selves too.

Sometimes u don’t want to part with some relationships and then they just linger on and on in your mind, when in reality, physically, they are already over. U still have hope that somewhere, somehow, we will meet again…. but it’s never going to happen actually. These are just never ending but baseless hopes… They don’t help u move on…

So, it’s better to realize while forming every relationship that there IS going to be a goodbye, one day. U have to say goodbye to your friends, your family, your spouse and even to your most lovable kids…

Separation is a natural phenomenon and it makes us move on to the next stage of our life…. whatever it may be.

Like they say, attachment is the cause of all suffering….

I actually believe that it’s important to attach most lovingly and separate most willingly…

When u love someone, love them with all your ❤️ …. Make them feel on top of the world …. Try to be with them for as long as possible …. But when the time comes to separate, do so willingly and happily….coz when you let go… U actually win them forever and they become an indispensable part of your memories…

Its like loving a bird…. Giving her lot of love and care… but one day when it is ready to fly…. JUST let it go…

Everyone has journeys to take, milestones to accomplish…. If u keep holding on to them, they will not reach anywhere…

Separate from them when it’s time to do so… Let them go on to their next journey…. No matter how very strong your love is… It will only get stronger with separation….

If we are not able to separate from others… or get too attached to them… then how will we learn to separate from our own body, when the time comes?

Learn the act of separation… and letting go…. For we all have different journeys and different destinations…

No one is meant to be together every single minute. Everyone has to fly…. on their own… to reach the skies…

 

 

 

Heaven! …. is on earth!

I came across such a profound and wonderful thought today from an astronaut’s mind…. Watch the below video…

https://weather.com/science/space/video/astronauts-offer-profound-perspective-of-earth

He says we always think ‘We will go to heaven when we die’ and when he looked at the earth, he thought… “No… we actually came to heaven when we were born! “

How amazing and so very true!

Can there be a better heaven than our very own planet earth 🌎?

Doesn’t earth have everything that we need and every beautiful aspect of life!

It has beautiful mountains, lush green fields, amazing waterfalls, a never ending ocean…. all kinds of good and not so good things…

Everything is on the earth! And it is surrounded by this magical thin layer of atmosphere that enables life to survive on our planet! Isn’t it just amazing!!

We spend all our life beautifying our own bodies and collecting material wealth, success, fame and so on… Which is all superficial and temporary…

Instead of that, we should spend time beautifying our planet… the one and only planet with known life on it!

The more we take care of the earth…. the more beautiful and giving it will be… for us and for the future generations…

Every thing that humans create should be checked on just one scale…

”Will this creation help the earth?”

If it won’t, then it should just not be created.

Imagine, would you feed your mother something that is harmful for her health? Then why do we feed Mother Earth with harmful substances? Why???

Can humankind not take care of this one planet that they have…. with all their heart and soul? Can we not be a little less selfish??

Why produce something that is going to endanger life, endanger the earth and endanger the beautiful creations on earth?

Let’s focus on how we all can serve the earth and help it sustain life for future.

Heaven is truly on earth…. Where else can it be? And can anything be more beautiful than the earth?

Let’s try to help the earth and be thankful for it every single day. Every day of our life…

I read somewhere that if you touch Mother Earth right in the morning and take her blessings, it really works.

I read an article where an astronaut spent 500 days in space and was mystified with the beauty of the earth! … its valleys and mountains… It’s craters and oceans…

Almost everyone wants to travel the world … far and wide… but how many of us… truly want to serve the earth?

If there is heaven, it is here, right here, on this planet. Let’s all respect it and do the best we can to heal the earth in the coming years…

It has suffered a lot from man made inventions for our own selfish use. Enough is enough.

Lets create something that truly enables life on this planet and makes it stronger in all ways.

Let’s take care of our Mother Earth.

Strange things…

Every culture has some unique and strange things. So does the Indian culture (I am originally from India)… or maybe I feel …this is persistent all over the world to some extent. Everyone knows that when a girl gets married, she has to leave her parents’ house and go to her husband’s house… (Either with in-laws or as a nuclear family)

In some of our TV shows, the girl’s parents are always shown to be submissive to the boy’s family’s needs, wants and expectations. Why should this be the case?

Why is it that the girl’s parents are always displayed as a weak party or those who need to agree with whatever the guy’s family says.

I mean… If two adults decide to start a family together… Both their parents should be considered equal in all respects. No one is inferior or superior.

Both adults have to be strong enough to decide and start a livelihood together and get on with their things. It doesn’t matter who is earning, as long as there is at least one source of income for their family. It doesn’t matter who is more educated or more capable. It’s a partnership…. an equilibrium and an equation for life… (Hopefully).

There are situations at my workplace, where the girl is earning and the husband is taking care of the kids at home and it should be considered completely normal. Guys …. just because they are guys…. have this undue pressure on them to earn. Why can’t a guy be a stay at home dad or just a homemaker? If a guy likes cooking and the girl likes to work…. Let it be…. Let two adults decide how they want to run their household.

I respect all of nature’s creations but I think the fact that a girl can bear a child in her womb, puts undue pressure on her existence. There are thousands of articles about motherhood and the role that mothers play in the kids’ lives. Why are fathers left behind? Did they not play a role in bringing the child into the world? Then why suddenly, after the kid is born, the mother becomes more important and responsible for the child’s upbringing? Both have to equally responsible. If a mother has to compromise and take career breaks sometimes, so can the dad. If the father has to run the household, so can the mother. It’s a partnership. Why put pressure on either of them to stick to their ‘defined’ upbringing jobs? As long as they both are bringing up a stable, well qualified and capable individual into this world, it doesn’t matter how they handle their time or circumstances.

There should be no discussion about Men are stronger or women are weaker… or Mothers are better or Fathers are more responsible etc etc etc….

Only when both are considered equally important, I think then.. there will be less crime against girls… Who are ill-treated for various reasons.

Two Adults… who decide to bring a child into this world and have a family…. And are committed to the upbringing of the child…. Can share equal responsibilities at different stages of their lives… depending on the circumstances and be each other’s STRENGTH.

Why put undue pressure on either of them?

As an example of the extraordinary, check out this article about male seahorses that deliver their offspring:

The Only Male Animals in the World that Get Pregnant and Give Birth

A mother and a father are both equally important in a child’s life. So are both sets of grandparents. (Mom’s side and the dad’s side)

The decisions have to be taken mutually.

There is no need to portray any family as superior in relationships.

When u form a relationship, u are equal and like a sea – saw, you both maintain the balance of life by sometimes staying up and sometimes staying down. It’s called flexibility of thinking, not inferiority or superiority.

Life needs more flexible thinking! I think.

“The One”

I read somewhere that….

‘The one’ is a cruel invention. No one is ever ‘wholly’ right or ‘wholly wrong’. True love isn’t an admiration for strength. It is patience and compassion for our weaknesses. Genuine love involves two people helping each other to become the best version of themselves’. Compatibility is the achievement of love.

Hmmm.. definitely some food for thought.

My husband and I had an arranged marriage. We met 4 or 5 times before tying the knot. We did not know each other before that. We met in November and got married in January. (3 months)

What followed after that was a journey full of ups and downs…. travelling all over US (up), career issues (down), beautiful daughter (up), health issues (down). Some major health issues too. (in 2014) Since he had known me only 3 months before marriage, he could have easily said during our difficult time that.. ..”I am done with all this. I can’t handle this anymore, I can’t help you anymore”.

We had our share of quarrels and arguments but he stuck with me, through THICK and THIN. (Through all the crazy moments and the fun and the laughter)

He forgave me for my natural fragility a lot of times. He is a very genuine person. Can I now say, he is “THE ONE” for me.

There have been times during our arguments, when my heart thought, he was not the one and perhaps someone else could have been. But, I stuck to him too. Through all these years. (10 years)… Was it because we got married? Or was it because I understood the meaning of true love or was it because I had seen so many upheavals in my life that I knew, this was the best. I don’t know. But I stuck on. I did not run away. Neither did he.

We just stuck on, no matter what happened. There were times when he said, “If you do like this, I will not pick up your phone in office”… but he always did. He never stopped picking my phone or ignoring me completely.

There were times when he said, “I am tired of you” but then there were times, when he just made me laugh…. without any reason. (while standing in the kitchen, or while watering the plants or just generally… anytime… anywhere)

Did I not give him a hard time? I did. Does he not give me a hard time? He does sometimes. But we stuck on, through thick and thin.

Can I now say, He is the ONE? If for a second, I believe he is not the one, then if I look back, no one invested 10 years (or even 5 years) of their life, seeing me grow, except my parents. (Who had to see me grow of course)

While watching Ramayana (an Indian religious epic on television), Sita automatically realizes that Ram is made for her, right in the first glance. Ram was “The One” made for her, she believed and then they went through thick and thin together. Their story is a transcendental epic and is an inspiration for all. (Watch the swayamvar episode!)

I’ve met people in my workplace who have been single all their life and never met “The One”. I’ve also met people in my workplace who married 2 or 3 times and finally settled with someone.

The world has changed dramatically. I’ve heard online dating is the norm these days. (Although it sounds pretty scary!)

Anyways… When you share your life with someone or plan to share your life with someone, you have to give it your ALL…. no matter WHAT the other person does or says. You have to be there for that person. NO MATTER WHAT. Through all the craziness, the shouting, the fights, the fun, the laughter, the positives and the negatives. Some people may be very very very hard to handle but I think if my husband can handle me, anyone can handle anyone! 😉 🙂 Maybe he has just learned the tricks over the years and now knows when to reply and when to just let me be… 🙂

He does ignore my phone sometimes but CALLS ME BACK.

I don’t know if he is THE ONE made for me but so far I am pretty happy and satisfied with the decision I made in my life! And I don’t think I am ever going back. (Even if a lot of things are not what I truly wanted…. I’m going to hang on to this guy!) 🙂

I’d encourage everyone to devote themselves to that ONE relationship that they truly find precious in their lives and devote FULLY… through THICK and THIN… Ups and downs… shouts and craziness… fights and battles…. mentally drowning situations and upheavals…. Because like they say…. THIS TOO SHALL PASS….

Here’s a beautiful video I saw online…. Are they “The ONE” for each other? I think they have just stopped questioning that to themselves.

P.S – Any by the way, my husband and I started chatting a lot…blah blah blah… right in the first meeting and have never stopped since then! 🙂 Before meeting him, I read somewhere that “Marry someone with whom you can have long conversations… because that is what remains in the end. All the other fascinations fade away!”

Destiny decides “THE ONE”… if there is one for you.

Anyways…enjoy the video!

 

Why? (Well… just “differently” Abled…)

I saw a video of a 9 week old baby today who was …Deaf. Her grandma who was also deaf was teaching her sign language. It aches my heart when I see such videos…. and I want to ask God…Why… Why are these innocent little souls not blessed with the basic senses. What is their fault? Why is it that precious kids are born with deformities…. I completely respect them and do feel they are complete in other ways… but why not the normal ways…

These kids will never realize what normal is because they will never get to feel it. Maybe, the way they are, IS normal for them… Maybe that’s what they believe reality is and maybe that’s how they connect with nature and God…

But why…Why are there so many differences amongst us?

And then I wonder, maybe these differences make us unique.

That little 9 week old baby was smiling and laughing on understanding the sign language, as if it was normal for her.

Maybe Life does not need a language… maybe these specially abled kids feel more than us… Maybe just maybe they ARE truly blessed is some special way that we are unaware of and are not able to comprehend…

Maybe …. Just maybe… Their definition of perfection in this world Is actually very different from us. Maybe when they don’t hear, feel or see all the various noises and nuisances of the world…. they actually feel they are better off by being just the way they are.

There must be SOME strength that helps them keep moving on, in spite of what we see as abnormalities or imperfections….
I think they all are also ….. PERFECT …. in their own special way…

Arent we all perfect in our own special way with all our weaknesses and strengths…?

Maybe they are not blind or deaf but actually… We Are…

I wish hope, peace and happiness for every soul, no matter what form he/she may be in. I am sure they are perfect because God had blessed them in some way that we can never ever interpret.

Everyone is equal and everyone is perfect….

Just PERFECT.

 

A seed…

Nature holds some rights with itself, for which it gives no authority to anyone. One such right is the creation of the seed.

Whenever nature creates something , it leaves a mark for further prosperity and a “belief in the future” by planting a seed in it.

Every tree that bears fruit contains a seed in it, to grow more trees and get more fruits.

Mother Nature itself is aware that nothing  lasts forever, so by giving a seed, it gives hope for the future…

Its amazing how a seed when planted turns into a beautiful plant and eventually into a tree.

Humanity itself is created from a seed. When a seed gets embedded into a mother’s womb, it gives rise to a beautiful human being.

A seed holds in it the power to create a future. However, just like a tree does not bear fruit for itself, similarly, we are not supposed to raise our children for fulfilling our own wants and needs but rather for serving the society, for growth and prosperity. For the ultimate wisdom and enlightenment, lies in SERVICE…. to mankind and to every other form of nature.

There was a video I recently saw where a cartoon character chops down a tree by mistake and then he and his friends try to hold the tree back up but it is not possible.  Then Mother Nature appears and sheds a tear looking at the condition of the tree and later advises them to plant a seed again. She says, “It will take a lot of time and a lot of care but one day, this seed will turn into a big tree”…

A kid, if given enough care and guidance, will also turn into a wonderful human being…

It all starts from the seed and ends in the seed…

That’s nature…

 

 

Need vs Greed… So true!

Let’s all thank our mother…

I wanted to thank Mother Earth today for all it has given me but didn’t know how to….. so I thanked my mother by sending this message…

“Mumma… Thank you for all u’ve done for me. Each day… everyday. By thanking u, I also want to thank Mother Earth who is our greatest and best mother….whom we hurt everyday but it still supports us. There is no way to give back to Mother Earth… so I am just thanking u because u are also Mother earth’s reflection. Maybe Mother Earth will also hear this thanks somehow…”

If you feel the same, just thank your mother too…. Maybe … this way… Mother Earth will be able to listen and heal…