On My Mind Today

14th June, 6.50 pm I was trying to cross the highway as quickly as I could. There was no zebra crossing at that point and I was waiting for the moment where I would notice a small break in the traffic and would run towards the other end. 40 minutes back, I was congratulating myself that for the first time in my life, I had arrived at the bus station half an hour before the departure time. The place is called Majnu ka tila and is a major starting point for most of the long route buses starting from Delhi. There was a small ground at the back, followed by a narrow street where a large number of buses were lined up. There was a small park on one side of the road which seemed to serve as the natural waiting lounge for the passengers. As expected, the place was noisy with a mixture of sounds coming from all the sides. Bus conductors and bus horns, both shouting for the missing passengers, hawkers crying out all around, sounds of children playing cricket in the park, excited travel...

11th June, 2 pm Lazily lying on the bed and feeling bored, I asked my mind : " How do you feel about the coming trip. You must be having some different feelings as it is my first solo trip. What do you think I’d doing there?" . It replied : " Ah! It feels great. Waking up in the mountains, it would surely be a feast for your eyes. Then after having a delicious breakfast somewhere in the city which you don’t know yet, you would go out with your laptop. You'd be doing just one thing : Exploring. Exploring and observing everything around you. The people, the market, the restaurant, the scenery and everything else. No one would be watching you" . It felt great and suddenly, all the lethargy seemed to be transforming into a zest for the trip. I could picture myself just roaming around the streets, talking to different people around me, trying out new food everyday or sometimes, just sitting alone in the mountains with my diary and a pen. But as the day pas...

I had written about madhushala some time back here . Ever since then, it has been on my playlist continuously and every time I listen to it, I seem to unfold more of what the poet wants to say. So, I have decided to write an explanation of each paragraph in this sequence of posts. But before that, let me tell you what I have understood till this point: So basically the poet is trying to narrate the life of an alcoholic. At first, when he hasn't started drinking, he is a novice and trying to find some place to just wet his lips. The poet directs him to madhushala and presents him with the beauty of this place. He says that the people here are always cheerful and each day is like a festival. He says that only that person is welcomed here who doesn't believe in religion, who feels the joy of pain and has left all the traditions. He wants the whole world to be like madhushala, even the temples where he says that he'll act as a god's idol and the people should chant t...

Madhushala , which means "The Tavern", was written by Harivansh Rai Bachan in 1935. It is considered to be an important milestone in the history of Hindi literature. A highly metaphorical composition, it is quite popular even today due to its underlying philosophical qualities. It can act as a therapy to your mind whenever you need it. As the wiki page says : The poet tries to explain the complexity of life with his four instruments, which appear in almost every verse:  madhu ,  madira  or  haala  (wine),  saaki  (server),  pyaala  (cup or glass) and of course  madhushala.  Each stanza ends with the word Madhushala. Out of total 135 verses, selected 35 verses have been sung by Manna Dey.  Here are the links to both: manna dey version full poem Here is an explanation of the first rubai(stanza) : In the search of his destination, the drinker leaves his home. He notices that there many paths to his destination ...

This post is the result of one of my recent treks. What do I mean by adventurous people in the title? people who have no fear of trying out new things at a different place. people who want to create something great out of each moment. When you are on a trek, these are the people who are always ready to explore more. They are always willing to try out the new food at the place. Travelling with these kind of co-travellers sounds great, right? But there is a downside of travelling with them. You can not enjoy your travel with normal(read non-adventurous or 'playing-safe') people after that. Yup, that's a disadvantage ;) . Normal people have a fixed domain/comfort zone of their own, and it's very rare and difficult for them to come out of that. Most importantly, there are some who try to even impose this on you. When you travel with them, you have to first provide them a well made plan for the trip. They can't come on a trip where they don...

Brush your teeth before going to bed brush your teeth everyday before going to bed. Almost each one of us realises that it’s important, but only few get out of the bed for this. It’s difficult initially because you can not see the immediate benefits, and that is the reason some people quit after a week or two. 10 minute workout Similar to the above point, do a 10 minute workout everyday when you wake up. You can not imagine how much difference will it make to your day. Apart from the physical benefits, you would feel more confident and energetic towards your day. Try this for one week. Quit your browser before going to sleep Quit your browser before going to sleep. Next day when you open your laptop, you shouldn’t see the pending tabs in the browser f rom yesterday.  Talk to the people who you care about talk to the people who you care about. Most people think that they are too busy for this, but you can always find a small amount of time in your schedule fo...