Living the American Dream

Off to another world!

Finally, now when the semester has officially ended, I want to take out ome time and retrospect what we have gone through, what it is like to study here in US and how are things here in general. Even if you wouldn't do a detailed comaprison of my BEFORE and AFTER Image of the imagined and my real life here, you would notice stark differences. And as they say, Only by walking in someone else's shoes you get to understand their predicament, so it might be possible that much of what I write here wouldn't be taken as it is by the people reading it! So, I get it ! Through this post, neither I am trying to clear any misconceptions about studying in abroad nor I am attempting to compare anything here with those back at home. I am just trying to present what I have seen, learned and experienced here so far.

Keeping Up with times

With hopes and optimism of balancing and juggling my life around fitness, hobbies, exploring and studying, I came here with my head-held high and confidence unbounded. Fast forward 60 days and the life is all about studying, eating, sleeping and the unending concern about the questionable career! It's not a general answer applicable to all as everything unfolding in your life is a consequence of your choices and priorities. People have been enjoying, really enjoying every bit of their stay here, are exploring places around and are having a good time and are able to manage really well! Kudos to them! But for a major portion of students here, that's not true. Depending on the background they have come from and the place where they want to go, they are busy putting in efforts as per their standards to gain something out of their journey here.

But that's true everywhere. What's so different here? Talking about the academics first, I would like to point out that assignments here are ain't any joke, where you just copy them before the class, design an amazing front-page, put your stack in the pile and yeah you won the battle! Apart from the regular monitoring of your understanding through assignments and quizzes, you are not only measured for the correctness of your solution but for your originality and optimal implementation of your ideas. Well, let's not talk about studies: You came here to STUDY, you have to and are expected to do that anyway! Isn't it?

Let's talk about Food 😀 I swear to you, I am a person who is open to try and relish any dish that comes within the vegetarian boundaries and back at home I pledged to return as an able chef, cooking a variety of delicacies. Now, read for yourself, how our cooking journey went under drastic transformations: We started with all 4 people in the kitchen at the same time, with each sharing the responsbility of Breads, Vegetables, Dishes and Cleaning on a rotation basis. We experimented and cooked 2 proper meals of the day including a mix of Pulses and a vegetable and ate with relish and joy. Fast forward a month and we have shifts of 2 people at a time, alternating the meals and trying to be as efficient as possible. A good attempt, Isn't it? Fast forward another month and we are now groups of two cooking the meals for the entire day, with the word "Proper" omitted as a prefix to the word Meal. From the combination of pulses, vegetables, chapatis and experiments we came down to the world of Rice, Pulses and Chapatis only. Call it the study pressure or lack of interest but really there was no excitement or urge within to cook. It all became a mechanical process: Wash, Peel, Chop, Fry, Pour, Close the Lid; Scrub, Pour, Wash and so and so. We were eating just for the sake of eating, just so that we could keep up with our everyday schedule and allow our body to make us meet the stipulated deadlines. (Were - as we aim to revive that, given that now we have some time for some time). But you were already aware of the food challenges that you would face overseas and still came here, so this ain't any excuse for shrugging off your responsibilities! Isn't it?

At times, darkness persists

Well, these were petty observable things, catering to the externals. What about your heart and soul? What about your well-being at the emotional level? To be truthful to you all, being all alone out here, ain't no joke. There is always a constant struggle to keep yourself busy and occupied else the demons of loneliness and emptiness would take you over, gripping you in a state of unproductivity and inefficiency, decapacitating of your capabilities to do anything. Yes, there are times when you seriously question your decision of coming and studying here, leaving all your loved ones behind! The season of festivals makes you nostalgic and to a guy who is a sentimental at the core, this means a thing. You talk, discuss and realize money is not everything in life but you also realize that it would be a ghastly act towards the people who have put their everything on stake just to allow you to realize your dreams. Your circumstances and your struggle are nothing as compared to that of your family and loved ones and realizing all this you just put your thinking heads apart and get back to work. But pulling yourself up from bed every morning and making yourself do everything required of you is a daring task in itself and since you have always loved taking up challenges, you might be loving this too! Isn't it?

But joy and happiness are bound to follow :) 

Having said so much about personal stuff, I would like to talk a bit about the dreamland we are in. Of all the things important to be followed here, TRUST is one such thing which you don't wanna play with, even in your dreams. You go to any multiplex, there would be no one to check your tickets; you ride a bus, no one would prompt you to display your ticket; you wouldn't find traffic police or other, patrolling a particular area and registering their presence from one block to another; stores are open till late at night; book-stores have their books out in the open and so on. Saying all this, I wish to bring home the point that the people here trust you with the thing you said you would do and so expect you to be truthful in the way you conduct yourself, because the side-effects of not doing so, could be quite severe. Moreover, the judgemental comments and analysis absent from the surroundings here, keep you going. You could be fat or slim, tall or stout, fair or dark, wear jeans or shorts, shirt or kurta, slippers or leather boots, you are your master and have the freedom and independence to try and do anything you want, provided that is legal and lawful. Work, Caste, Religion, Color, Region, there is no visible differentiation of anykind prevalent here. All are being treated as equals.

The purpose of writing all that has been written above wasn't to discourage any aspirants from abandoning their plans of studying in abroad. It is just an insight into my own personal experiences which justify a very famous idiom which says that, Drums always appear a symphony from a distance (Door ke dhol suhaawane in Hindi). There is no doubt that these situations are preparing you for the good and transforming you into a being, you thought you could ever become. But the only catch is: It all doesn't come so easy. It all depends on: How far are you willing to go and sacrifice to achieve what you really want in life!!

Road is bright ahead, keep moving!

Can Money buy Happiness?

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Source: Google

People like it or not, money is important in life. In fact, It's presence is directly or indirectly related to happiness. ​I am not saying that money can buy happiness

​,​ BUT ..and it's a huge but: the way the people are, the way we have been raised, the way this world operates (which it does on money), our happiness to a certain extent depends on it. In this highly judgemental society of today where people loathe you for earning too much and 

​pull​ you down if you don't have much

​;​

 our status on the whole is decided by the amount of moolah we are raking. May be earning more of it won't make us happy but people around us and close to us namely, friends and family are bound to be ecstatic on our high bank balance. It is one of the most visible ways deployed by people to measure our success and prosperity, so the hype around it is much obvious. 

Happiness ain't a thing which c​ou​ld be bought in a store: true but ​money ​can make us own numerous objects which we desire; it can make us fulfill our lieflong dreams of pusuing an adventure; it can make us help others in innumerable ways which in turn could bring happiness for others. So, money and happiness are not in a direct relation with each other rather an indirect one.

Source: Google

​There is another side of this story. There are two broad categories of people ​while taking into consideration the prospect of money. First is the group of people, who are working just for money, they are living for it and they would even die, trying living for it. Second is the one which is working just enough to own sufficient money to get them going and fullfill their dreams or aid them in achieving something other than money in their lives. The people of the latter category are already aware that money can't buy happiness and the former ones would one day or other come to this realization. So all in all, it depends on the person trying to find this answer. If they are brave and bold enough to stop being affected by the perceptions of people around and are able to acknowledge their inner voice, they won't ever be bothered by this question. The reason this question props up time and again is that most of us are living a secondary life guided by the dreams and aspirations of people around. We are afraid, I am afraid to carve my own path into this world by side-stepping the one followed by the majority. So, until I gather enough courage or right opportunity to poke my head out, I will keep on doing what I am doing, keep on following money so that even If I don't have courage or opportunity, possessing money could make me gather what is required to start on my own. Because personally I believe that being mad about money throughout my life won't make me happy rather the essence of being together with your loved ones and exploring the world with them would! So do whatever it takes to improve your situation or keep doing whatever you are doing until you have the guts to do so.

Good Night, be Patient!

Women - Take Care to Take Care of this world

Source: Google

From the moment of giving birth to the kids to the moment she dies or her children meet that unfortunate fate(whichever unfortunate moment occurs earlier), she devotes every bit/ounce of her true-self in the service of MANkind, which here includes both men and women.

Be it Getting up Early in the Early morning and Getting Ready quickly, so that her kids and family could enjoy their mornings; Be it preparing breakfast early in the morning even when she has to leave earlier than the family; Be it helping the children in their homework even when her body is undergoing tremendous pain and she herself needs help in the “HOME WORK”; Be it eating the food after the family has eaten relishly; Be it maintaining the family relations alongside the corporate and neighborhood; Be it remembering the indefinite list of birthdays and anniversaries and other such crucial events that come bundled with marriage; Be it doing their bit for society even when it doesn't leave any time for themselves, you name anything and women are good at it or are trying their best to achieve a niche in that. Love, Hatred, Pain, Sacrifice, Stress, Happiness, Gloom, Tragedy and many such severe descriptors of Emotion co-exist simultaneously in their world!!! Even such disruptors aren't able to deter them from waking up again in the morning and live their life for the people they care about.

Being an eye-witness to all these situations, I feel proud and confident to admit that women, if given a chance, would make one of the best Managers of all times. But in a country like ours, where : the representation of women in Parliament still needs to be ramped up; The Groom and his family get a constipation where the bride-to-be is a beauty with brains and earns more than her better half; The maniacal men can't take 'NO' from a woman for their proposal, be it marriage, Love or Rape; The men try to impose their chauvinism in numerous possible ways by questioning the Attitude, Clothes, Religion, Morality etc. of Women whenever they try to lift themselves up and walk with their heads held high; the above dream seems to be a distant one.

Why are we so adamant upon pushing them down? Why can't we see them rise and prosper??

It is true that women may get tempted sometimes by the glitter of those precious jewels but the thing they really want is just that we too care for them, just as they care for us. And I think at least we could do this much for them. Having said so much in their praise, doesn't mean they are the next Aamir Khan on this planet!!! Obviously, they aren't. The major field in which they need some serious improvement is Taking care of themselves!!! May be because they are too engrossed in helping others, they have forgotten to take care of themselves OR they feel that after doing so much Good for others, who would DO...., SORRY, Even THINK bad for them?? Sorry ma'ams but you seem to be living in some other world.

Well, taking care doesn't mean that your sole aim is to prevent that stupid son of a *** (named FAT) from residing on your body and assuming that rest all would be fine!! In the present world, where Life is so fast where Multitasking is the obvious requirement; Children seek inspiration from you; Dangers marking their presence at each step; Jobs we do require something extra; that would not be enough. The situation is like you should be able to run, jump, punch and kick asses of the ones who try to mess with you. But the situation is quite drastic. I have friends who find it difficult to jump over a drain while some even struggle to walk at a rapid pace. Some just freak out at the idea of using the Stairs instead of that Lousiness arousing LIFT.

It's not that they can't do that but it's just that they lack motivation to do it. It's also true that the more you force something, the more they procrastinate it. Because as far as i believe that people keep on waiting for some unfortunate incidents to happen with them or around to adapt and inculcate some changes in their lives. Well, it's better we understand beforehand and prevent that incident altogether.

To clear some misunderstandings that might have arose after reading the above: Me saying 'Women need to do more for being healthy, doesn't translate to they doing Bench Presses, Pull-Ups, Dips or Chin-Ups!!! But, of course they could, if they want, as they'll definitely feel better after initially facing some terrible hardships. All i am saying is they need to step-up their strength so that they excel marvelously in all that they do and are able to make a difference to their lives alongside the lives of people they care about. Also, by praising women abundantly i do not mean to imply that all women are good and right and you could trust them blindly without any questioning. Yes, bad women do exist but i am not here to compare the women. I just want to say to them,

  Please Take Care of Yourself.

Source:Google

Serving the Parents

Everyone's Dream: A Happy Family.
Source: Google

Parents, the only people who selflessly render their services to us throughout their lives, are the ones, whom we are unable to serve truly in our lifetime. But despite that, at every point of our lives, we find them standing beside us, eveready to help, support and guide us in any kinda way they can. The above statement has not been made just out of immense love for my parents, but it has been observed and perceived on the basis of the events happening all around us, in this fast and materialistic world of today. 

Well, first of all the notion of serving the parents has undergone a complete transformation. It is no longer the massaging of their legs and arms and obediently following every word of their advice. It is good to know that even today, kids do follow the above. But the parents' happiness lies in our happiness. Neither the parents expect us to be Shravan Kumar, nor we consider the option of imbibing the good qualities that existed in that great child. B'coz the bitter truth is: We are hardly able to carry ourselves together, so how could we imagine carrying both our parents on our shoulders !!! Additionally, we have a pre-conceived notion that making our parents live in some huge bungalow, surrounded by numerous servants and providing them every kind of luxury, would make them feel at home and help them attain salvation. But irrespective of whether these things are provided to them or not, they only wish to avoid experiencing the whims of loneliness, when the Aging takes a severe toll on their life, which was once rejuvinating and full of energy.

Parents always want that their kids may receive the best possible education and thereafter secure the best of the jobs. For that, they somehow make up their mind to send their kids abroad, far from themselves, with a hope that their kid would soon return equipped with a better life. But sadly, either the kid doesn't return (or is not able to) OR the better life which they sought after, doesn't allow him to sit back, relax and enjoy anymore. To earn more, he toils more but is unable to serve the parents, who day after day, equipped with loneliness, keep on waiting patiently and endlessly for their kids to arrive and just be with them. I find it quite disheartening that, right from our birth, our parents begin a routine of sacrifices which goes-on till the very end. From ensuring the best possible education for us, to making us go abroad; from making us settle in the new city for our Job to settling our lives after our marriage; from helping us raise our kids to being there in times of hardships, they are there for us, anytime, everytime, anywhere and everywhere. But when the tide falls on our shoulder to take proper care of them, we are far away, trying to sort out the cobwebs of our rat-raced lives. There We are, finding it difficult enough to: talk to them, respond to their queries and meet them: even once in a blue moon. As the time goes on and we become the parents of our children, may be we too would turn out to be amazing, caring and sacrificing parents but the paradox is "It's very difficult to be a good and caring Child". 

Although, just as there are good people in this world, there are good children too. But won't it be good if all the kids turn good. So, I hereby wish and pray that we may be endowed with such instincts and sense, so that we always remember our parents in our lives and care for them selflessly, just like they did throughout their life; irrespective of how successful we are, the job we do Or the status we enjoy in the society :)

Walking Together on the isle of Life.
Source: Google

WWE: Beyond Entertainment

Source: Google

I am sure most of us have fond memories of watching those semi-naked, customized and printed undergarment clad bodies, doing a sort of fighting in the ring which includes special tactics of holding each other; of picking one another in the mid-air and tossing them around like some toy. Yeah!! You have to be quite a fool for guessing that I am talking about World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). And Yes, people are still crazy for it. Specifically, the viewership of this evergreen show is not only restricted to the school- going students. Rather, Grown-up Boys (moreover, adults) like me and my brother along with many of our friends, are one of the members of that die-hard Fan Community, who eagerly wait for the once-in-a-lifetime matches held in the most awaiting show of the year-> WRESTLEMANIA.

Having grown up with the speculation that all these awesome matches were scripted beforehand; I was always unable to push that down my throat. But now being granted some presence of mind by the almighty, the truth is hidden from no-one. Additionally, looking at this booming entertainment industry beyond what the fights present to the viewers, we see that it depicts the common and unending tussle going on between the Good and the Evil, in our lives. In the beginning, the GOOD is outnumbered by the self-propelling forces of the EVIL, as obvious. But Just when every hope dies; The faith in Good trembles and the corpses are packed in the coffin, then suddenly the Coffin is thrown open and BOOM, The DeAd Man- UNDERTAKER Returns, leaving the perpetrators aghast in terror and then even the Gods can’t prevent their demise.

So, beyond presenting us with the Glamorous Entertainment (I am sure you haven’t been able to forget Lita, Trish, Stacy, EVe and the current ones too-> Bella Twins, AJ Lee etc.), WWE has always and would always set an example before us, inspiring us to lead a daring and “NEVER GIVE UP” life. Be it Through the “HUSTLE, LOYALTY, RESPECT” of John CENA, who comes out every night, energized and boosted up to accept any challenge thrown by anyone and  give his best to that; Be it through the short and courageous REY MYSTERIO, who has developed the agility in his moves in compensation of the lack of physical strength; Be it through the humble, Down to earth and friendly actions of superstars such as Christian, Sheamus, Shawn Micheals, RIc Flair etc. and most recently through the actions of New WWE World Heavy Weight Champion “DANIEL BRYAN”. You could beat him, hurt him, make him bleed, insult him publicly, thrash him, toss him around everywhere, make him wrestle with anyone - even giants but you could not deprive him of his determination and resolute will power to achieve his goal. And it’s because of these qualities rather than the number of matches won-or-lost, that people around the world have such respect and deep gratitude for these superstars. The results of these fights are momentary as compared to the eternal values and motivation that gets imbibed by the people watching them.  Not just WWE but everything happening around us is screeching at the top of their voices to make us learn something or the other. But As they say, “BEAUTY lies in the eyes of the observer”. So, it all depends on you, whether you want to look around for inspiration or are you satisfied with that dumb, grim and goalless life of yours.!!!

Source: Google

UnWilLinG To SePaRAte

Source: Google

The journey of the past 4 yrs, has been quite amazing. From being complete strangers to each other, we have now reached the stage where we pour in our efforts to avoid even the slightest imagination of the destined end of our Graduation Journey. Countdown has already begun and we are just a few months away from the official Shut-Down of our Friendly Processors. In order to drag the mind away from such Gloomy feelings, one needs to keep his/her mind occupied enough so that these “Ghosts Of Christmas-Future”, keep themselves at Bay. And that poses a serious and tedious situation for idle mind of people like me because our scores this time weren’t good enough to fetch us some calls from any good MBA Institute. As a result, we were left with ample amount of time quite early in this semester, where even the uploading and updating our DP’s on Social Media, became a daunting task for us. Not only this, but any activity that just involves our friends, be it as silly as: sitting on the grass under the sun, Singing songs together, blurring anything, anywhere out from the Never-Giving-Up mouth, playing child-like games with a childish ball or anything like clicking pictures, discussing and mimicking movies together; all these garnered our attention. Keeping in mind The-last-Mile that has to be walked together, the students are adamant to anyhow plan their Tour together, even when it requires going against the wishes of the administration, cursing or pouring out our frustration on them. 

But I would be wrong to limit all of this to MBA Aspirants only. With the GATE exam of many branches already over, I am sure they too are rattling with us in the same PolyBag and in the Upcoming Week whole of the Soon-To-Be-Graduated students would feel within them, the same sensation and restlessness of somehow walk through their time. So, having been said that, we all would be provided with ample time to Complete, enhance and renovate our Said-To-Be-Prestigious Projects but their speedy execution, seems to be a rare and distant dream. They would be definitely be completed and finalized but Half-Heartedly and that too, only when their completion is standing between us and our Graduation Degree. 

 As Great Authors and SRK himself has said that,

“Kisi cheez ko dil se chhaho, toh poori kainaat tumhe use milaane mein lag jaati hai…”. So, I hereby wish that: 

"May At some stage in my life, I be able to unite with all my friends, for any purpose, maybe Work or fulfillment of some secret job of the Almighty, so that we may Rock the world together, contribute our bit towards it and make it a better place to live in."

May Everyone Remain Wealthy ForEver. :)

Demystifying AAP

Source : Google

The journey from “About Aspirations of People” to “Abrogating Aspirations of Police”.

The sanctity and purity of the day, when the Crusade of the people: AAP, dethroned the hierarchy and occupied the throne following an unbiased, transparent and governance delivering approach, could still be felt. Their win actually symbolized the win of the nation and its people, paving way for participative and corruption-free democracy. It was really worthwhile to notice how people from varied walks of life: Engineers, Businessmen, Doctors, housewives, rickshaw-pullers, officers poured in their contributions ranging from Rs.10 to several lakhs, to make this seemingly honest party, come to power. It set a contrast example of how elections could still be won, following the guidelines laid out by the Election Commission. Winning is not about hiding the donations of the party and wooing the voters financially but it’s about identifying the problems and providing the platform to eradicate them.

With their memorandum of free water and Free Electricity, they were the source of extreme form of Media Coverage across all-the Media-Channels, with each one of them running the same repeated documentary-type news of ArvindJi from morning till evening, portraying him as the messiah of the people, the traits of whom were amazingly bright, right from his birth. That’s how media functions in our nation, this moment you are The Great Captain Cool, winning the highly acclaimed series one after another and the very next moment you are a stubborn guy, unwilling to modify your Final Eleven. Well Never Mind. From rejecting support from Congress to overturning the request of personal Security; from abrogating the enormous govt. villa to the quashing of VIP culture; the Delhi CM has been the eternal source of limitless Media Attention. Whether the above declarations were declared to be followed or were just a mere act of publicity, is a debatable argument.

Whatever be the case, with AAP taking on the central role, people were quite optimistic that a revolution was in making. Wind of Positive Development and efficient Delivery of Services to the people was about to swirl across Delhi. But instead, what is being delivered to the people: ……  Yeah! You could substitute that Famous Dialog of KAPIL here!!  Though they have only been a month long Govt., they have a long way to go from this point. But there is a popular saying, “Poot ke Paon, Paalne mein dikh jaate hain”.

The CM of the capital of India goes onto a strike, shunning his responsibilities and urges the people and police to join him in the agitation in front of PM Office, demanding the Delhi police control to be transferred to Him, along with the suspension of 4 police Officers who tried to save foreign nationalities, from the Law Minister of Delhi himself!!! Improving the Situation doesn’t mean, going out there in public and humiliating anyone and that too women, just because they seemed to be involved in illegal activities. There are legal ways to do that. Flouting the laws openly and publicly and stamping yourself as an Anarchist, after being the CM, is certainly not a trait desired in any CM. If CMs too need to organize Strikes and Bandhs to get things done, without giving a thought to the discomfort and chaos being caused to the people, then why in all, there is a post of CM in the first place. 

Sir, people, after a long time have invested their support, time and energy, form the bottom of their hearts, in a crusade like this and are waiting for something good to happen to them and their country.  On top of this, instead of delivering them good governance, all of a sudden you are being so desperate to contest the upcoming Lok-Sabha elections (although you first neglected it). Your performance has not been tested on the State level, then how could you promise to deliver at the national level.  Without delivering any performance, you tried to cash-in your imminent popularity. Though it’s truly said, “It’s good to wash your hands in flowing water.” But only if you are going to eat after that. When You enter in a new house, first you need to sort some things out, arrange them a little bit and then you take up the task of relaxing and eating. Entering the home and directly thinking of relaxation could leave your house in complete disorder. There is no doubt about the effectiveness of the protests as the tool to raise your opinions against the existing system. But the sole reliance on them, even when you are the system and hold power is not a sensible idea. People supported the protests to make you rise to power, now it’s your duty to provide them the desired outcomes.

On a concluding note, it would be right enough to say that, we as people are too quick to pass our judgement and point-out flaws in phenomenon happening around us. But if we support something with full eagerness and zeal, then the least we expect in return is the proper solution to our grievances and the existing situation to improve. Well, your journey has just begun and have a lot to prove and a lot of time at your disposal to do that. But I wish and seriously hope that you don’t have to bear the same torture and disrespect like the UP govt. Let's See What rolls out in the future.