Spirituality for Dummies 3: The Intangible Benefits of Meditation

The intangible benefits are the more subtle benefits that I believe manifest in the tangible ways over a greater period of time. In fact, I'm using the word intangible just because for most people, it might not be naturally obvious, although it is still very real.

1.  Clarity of thoughts- As we grow in meditation, we get fewer unnecessary thoughts bombarding the mind. Hence, the mind feels fresh and energetic more often with consistent meditation.
2. Less need to bond over bitching/complaining- regular meditation makes it clearer that wasting too much energy with a Bollywood style "kandha" is actually too draining on the energy levels. We actually feel more tired after complaining. I lost appetite for complaining too much about boss/colleagues/bullies/landlord/maid/Uber/Ola/anyone whose work Durant match my expectations. If things go your way, will and good, if not, keep moving and wait for the right time
3. Less hustle, more work- we often notice that the more hurried people are, the less work gets done. Meditation leads to a state where the mental hustle is in check and more work happens nevertheless. 
4. Multitasking- less hustle means more mental bandwidth gets freed up for other useful purposes, like trying out different hobbies or interests. Not with excitement, but with stability. Things started with just excitement rarely last long. The excitement needs to be tempered by intuition and calmness to transform it into a lasting thing. Meditation does that 
5. Greater appreciation for haves than have nots- i have been through depressing phases in life, so have many of us. When we come out of it, we almost laugh at it. When we are low, even if we have the best of things, we seem to find fault in our lives. Meditation made me realise that there is so much to cherish even when we don't have our next goal at hand. When we deeply cherish the present moment, we take care of it responsibly. We are aware of what may take us up or bring us down- with greater clarity. Hence we are totally aware of actions and potential consequences. This makes our actions more conscious. I have nearly stopped bargaining present moment for any transient distraction. Unlike popular misconception, I have enjoyed life much more than I earlier did. The love for heightened energy levels of such a state of mind are a reason to not take anything for granted. This automatically increases the awareness in the present moment :)
6. Golden Mean- Often we feel a high is a victory in life and a low is a defeat. We are too short sighted to realise that nothing lasts and each action comes with consequences, sooner or later. In life, we rarely are able to practice steadiness in thoughts and actions. We get swayed by good and bad times and often miss the larger picture and action. This creates a vicious circle of sub optimal decisions and acts. Meditation naturally slows down, cools down and calms down the system that reacting to situations becomes less and less relevant and we begin to respond to things. We become less extreme in our attitude and are better able to tread on the tightrope of life. Balance is easier said than done, but meditation makes it hardwired into the being.

More such benefits will be coming in future posts :)

Keep meditating!

Fam Jam: Baap Baap Hota Hai!

My father is passionate and curious about many things, newspaper, talking to random strangers and travelling count more than most others. When I was a kid, we had quite a few family vacations to many parts of India, mostly North India (plans to visit other places got tragically cancelled for reasons beyond our control). As kids, my brother and I were mostly happy to get multiple photo--ops at beautiful places during our summer vacations. But I now realise how much his passions have made us into better, more content people.

I remember when my brother hadn't even joined a school and I had just started my schooling, Papa was posted elsewhere and used to visit us only on Sundays. We used to grab his fingers early in the morning and walk to the newspaper stall half a kilometre away. There, he would spend at least an hour browsing through the numerous newspapers and magazines. Then he would buy one or two. In the meantime, we glanced through the Nandans, Champaks, Wisdoms and Chacha Chaudhary-s. Then we would walk back home, and bro often bruised his knees. Don't know why his eyes were on the sky while walking! On holidays, racing to pick the paper from the doorstep early morning before Dadu or Papa could take it was a grand ritual. As a kid, I remember watching regional movies with subtitles on DD1 on Sunday afternoons with my family. Whenever Mile Sur Mera Tumhara came up, Papa made sure I was able to recognize the different musical instruments, the different classical musicians, singers, dances, languages and regions as well, not just the movie stars! It was a shame to not being able to distinguish between Kerala and Tamil Nadu, or Telugu and Malayalam and which language belongs to which state. My GK scores were always good at school, and to Mr absolute horror, when I grew up, I discovered most people proudly term all South Indians as Madrasis😱😮. In my home, it was an unpardonable sin😅😂!

The family vacations were planned months in advance. The relevant editions of Sarita were carefully used by Papa to shortlist places to be visited and the places of interest within the tourist place that needed to be seen. After wide consultations he had zeroed in on a Yashica camera. We always complained that two reels of film were way too insufficient for the photos that we wanted to click. And we waited with bated breath after each trip for a couple of weeks till he got the films developed by the best studio in town. Recently when I visited Amritsar with my parents, he insisted on taking a picture of all of us at almost every monument!

I have grown up among HT, Editions of Yojana, Kurukshetra, Economic Survey and Pratiyogita Darpan. The India Today college rankings edition was a must have. When my peers had parents saving for their marriages or college donations, my father wanted us to have the best of education purely on merit. When I was disappointed with my results vis a vis my aspirations, he always believed hard work pays for sure in the long run, despite sometimes getting much more worried. He wanted and still wants me to learn, earn and grow. In the place where I come from, that is a bold decision. For I have seen my peers in engineering earning their degrees just for the sake of having it. I have heard guys and men, friends and colleagues, much better off financially, wanting their daughters and sisters to finish their education and having dreams of marrying them to a suitable boy. Nothing wrong with that, only my father dreamt much beyond that, despite keeping expectations low. Financial independence, married or otherwise, was hardwired into our brains growing up. So was taking independent, well thought decisions and commitments. My Mom says my father had planned that he would send us to the school we went to even before he got married! Meaningful education is close to his heart :), and so is growth. And despite me complaining that his standards are too difficult to cope up with, I think nothing else could give me my perspective that I deeply cherish. I consider him to be a visionary for giving us the exposure that he did and the lessons of intellectual honesty, value of (even if unrecognised) hard work, genuine interest in whatever is happening around in the world, and standing up for our values, no matter how difficult it gets!

My father never took a promotion till we finished our schooling. Still, he always studied for the promotion tests and kept abreast of everything, and worked overtime to make up whatever was possible without a promotion. He knows more about any exam or college or score we're shooting for, than us. I have seen my peers fool their parents and lie to them about scores and stuff with so much jest 😉😂. But, it is impossible to fool him 😎! His research interests in different career options and random conversations with strangers in those streams stretch far beyond an adolescent's capacity to lie 🤗😅 ("Baap Baap hota hai or beta beta" was probably tailor made for him). He is just keenly observant and smiling when people share with him their misadventures of life. And those observations are communicated to us as precautions for the future!

I have often accused him, sometimes angrily and at other times playfully, that his standards are way too lofty and impractical. But, the truth is, whatever realism, stubbornness and perspective on life I have had, I owe much of it to him. Often, that amounts to nothing more than that feeling of "meh" when people go gaga on their selfies at the Taj Mahal or Hawa Mahal or Sun Temple while I think "ye to Papa me bachpan me hi dikha dia tha😂😏". But more often, it has made to do just what I want by being totally deaf to unconstructive criticism and if need be, then being dumb as well 😁

My brother and i have undergone tons of pressure in living upto his standards. And we've finally made our peace with it, and with our capabilities and failings. But our lives' trajectories have much to thank him for.

He has spent continuous sleepless nights guarding us as kids even as we slept in AC train compartments during our summer vacation tours, to protect us from being lifted/kidnapped, even outside Bihar. He didn't give us too many toys and stuff, but a good book was just a phonecall away. Unlike most fathers who gladly save for their daughters' marriage over education, he was more than eager for me to start earning soon and not need him for money. And love of news now runs in the family genes, for more even my mother follows national news with operatic regularity! Sure he's had his own tantrums and quirks, but he is the fiercest, most honest and grounding critic that one can have. Thanks to that, peer pressure and need to fit in has never been much of a problem, and any delusion goes through umpteen reality checks ad nauseum.

We used to get homeworks in kindergarten to write essays on Mother and Father. I think that's too early to write it. My Yes Plus teacher often quotes some famous man, probably Churchill, who said that when he was 16 years old, he thought his father was the most foolish man in the world, but when he turned 25, he was surprised to realize that his father was much smarter than he had thought! He couldn't have been truer.

Spirituality for Dummies 2: The Tangible Benefits of Meditation

The benefits of meditation/yoga can be so subtle and deeply ingrained that it often blurs the line between realistic/tangible and psychological/metaphysical.

In this post, I'll try to address the realm of tangible, clearly noticeable impacts of meditation. The psychological and other subtler aspects are reserved for a later post.

These are my personal experiences as a result of regular yoga, pranayama & meditation. Hence, the list of benefits is not limited to only these.

1. Quality sleep- I have been a night owl for at least the last 18 years of my life. When I began my professional life 8 years ago, I realised I had ruined my sleep cycles with late night study/chart/calls/timepass. I was forever tired and could see my energy levels going haywire throughout the day. Despite being tired always, I would never fall asleep when I hit the bed at night. As a result, the mind would keep attracting only negative and depressive thoughts when I was trying hard to sleep. Dreams were a frequent thing. Ever since I have been meditating, my sleep has become extremely deep that I sometimes wonder when I realize that I have nearly stopped dreaming. It hardly takes me more than a few minutes to fall asleep compared to my former self who used to toss and turn in the bed for hours waiting to sleep.
2. I've stopped overeating:   All my old friends and family will agree to at least one thing about me. That I love good food and can stuff my food pipe up to the throat (:P) if I find something worth it. Before I started meditation, overeating was natural. I didn't know when to stop if I saw a box of sweets or was at a party. Now, no matter how good the food, I simply cannot eat beyond a point. My portion size has dramatically reduced and so has my problem with indigestion. I don't remember the last time I had indigestion, hardly 1-2 times in the past 7 1/2 years!
3. Morning to evening energy levels: When we wake up in the morning, usually we are fresh until we reach the class/office. Then the lectures/meetings happen and soon after, we feel the need to drown ourselves in endless cups of tea/coffee/nicotine. By the time we reach home, we can hardly think of anything let alone do something productive. Ever since I have been meditating regularly, my energy levels have become so steady that I don't feel the need for any stimulants. And, even after a long day, I often look forward to so many things to do- reading my newspaper, yoga, gym, reading books, cooking, trying to develop new interests. This wasn't possibly at all for my former self. Hence, I don't feel too much need to bitch about life too offload the stress. It is only because of this energy that I have been able to make some more demanding career decisions and/to nurture my interests. Earlier, the energy followed a sinusoidal curve and I had plenty of mood swings. Now it is much more steady and balanced.
4. I look younger: I have lost count of people who confuse me for someone at least 7-8 years younger than my age. Meditation releases antioxidants in the system that reversed physical ageing and also keeps the brain young and heart youthful. I have had a school kid asking me which class I study in. I have had aunties thinking I'm too young to get married 😂😁😆 until I told them my actual age. My gym trainer couldn't believe when he saw my age on the form😬. 

I'll cover more tangible benefits in the upcoming posts.

For the Love of Reading: David & Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

What is advantage? In our day-to-day lives, we are inclined to believe that studying in small classrooms counts as one. So does being brought up by affluent parents, and in a sheltered, close-knit familial atmosphere. More money translates to better life. An Ivy League degree is the surest way to a high flying career. Having prior experience in the rules of a game and its strategies definitely is a head-start to victory. Being a part of the majority community in situations of persecutions, like that of Holocaust is a ticket to safety. And being a Philistine giant like Goliath is more than an assurance of victory in a war.

Going by this, more of these is desirable.

Here exactly is where Malcolm Gladwell shifts the narrative. 

The biggest millionaires of Hollywood and Wall Street worry that their children have had too easy a childhood to appreciate the value of toiling hard and turning to lateral  thinking for creating or earning opportunities & justifying them. The most watershed moments of alleviating leukemia in children happened courtesy a doctor who was so indifferent of suffering due to his disturbed childhood that he could think through the solution that was much more painful for his patients in the immediate short run, but created room for further successful interventions- and chemotherapy was born. He was "stone" enough to inject the kids with a medicine that was closest to being a poison, just because he could withstand the pain beyond the normal threshold.

While policymakers in the world are raging about having a smaller pupil-to-teacher ratio to improve learning outcomes in schools, evidence from psychological research suggests little correlation between the two beyond a point. A coach who has never played basketball coaches a team of motley schoolgirls to the national level tournament through a winning spree, because he can twist his strategy within the existing rules but beyond the conventional wisdom. Why? Because being a nerdy software programmer, he has no stake in the basketball based social circuit and its opinions. The only community that sheltered refugee Jews in the entire Nazi-occupied France was a persecuted sect that was openly defiant to Nazi diktats, and still went unscathed. Reason being, they had perfected the art of evading persecution by adapting their social structure and knew means to falsify identities, or sometimes, were plainly stubborn of their conscientious stand. Nazis had little energy to waste on them amidst other bigger & more immediate pressing issues.

One of the most counter-intuitive cases is that of the Ivy League education. Turns out, that it is more likely that a top ranking college reduces your chances of pursuing a discipline, especially Science & Economics at advanced levels, if you don't rank in the top percentiles of your class. Beyond the cream, a competitor who is a topper of her class from a much lower ranking college has much higher prospects of thriving in the discipline at advanced levels. What is a "perceived advantage" thus ends up being an impediment due to the collateral psychological damage caused by the top class universities.

Thus, the fascinating fable of a short, relatively frail, catapult wielding Israeli shepherd David defeating the giant Goliath, with multiple heavy weapons and a guard exclusively meant to shield him, and a heavy armour protecting almost every part of this body, should not be surprising at all. The Goliaths of the world focus on their weapons and armours. While, the Davids, refuse to fight with the same weapons and aim their well practiced slingshots to precisely those parts where the armour didn't cover the giant. Not all disadvantages are crippling, some are desirable and some are just "perceived" disadvantages. Playing by their own rules is often the hallmark of the Davids.

The book has important lessons not just for the common man, but policymakers and people in the position of power. The relation between a resource & its perceived advantage follows not a "positively sloping" straight line as expected, but an inverted U shape. Thus beyond a point, the same advantage becomes an obstacle. Too strong laws fail to contain crime beyond a point. Too much heavy handedness by the State in areas of strife and conflict erodes the legitimacy of the power. Too few students per teacher decreases the productivity of discussions in a classroom of wary teens. Just like a heavy, strong armour reduced the mobility & agility of Goliath against David.

It would therefore be fitting to quote Gladwell from the book-
"The powerful are not as powerful as they seem- nor the weak as weak".
Thus, life is much more of what we make out of even our perceived disadvantages.

Spirituality for Dummies 1: Common Misconceptions & Myths

I had initially named this draft as "Spirituality for laymen", but gender neutrality matters, hence the title. I consider myself a dummy as well, just that I am slightly more familiar with spirituality than an absolute novice.  Anyway, before the essence of the message of this post is lost by the readers in the rush to judge and give opinions just for the sake of satisfying one's ego in this new era debate of "trolls" without even trying or genuinely listening to something (and feeling "empowered" by the anonymity provided by internet) let me start with some disclaimers/myths.

1. The concepts of Guru & Bhakti, though highly regarded in India, have of late been maligned by the likes of  Gurmeet Ram Rahim & Asaram. A Guru is a principle, a consciousness, NOT a person/godman, in the Yogic and most Indian/Oriental philosophies. A Guru is different from a teacher. English vocabulary often is extremely insufficient in describing many Sanskrit terms related to Indian philosophies. Bhakti , similarly, can be closely expressed by the word devotion. It does not mean necessarily following something blindly. Acknowledging the presence of Guru (the larger consciousness of nature or "Brahman" as mentioned in Upanishads) simply means that you acknowledge the vastness of something that you do not and cannot know entirely, and see it as a force that answers the doubts (even the silliest ones) and questions that arise in your mind. It allows one to be constantly aware of one's limitations as well as the limitless possibilities despite those "impermanent" limitations. Similarly, Bhakti or devotion is a quality of awareness/consciousness, which translates into love for something higher. In fact Narad Bhakti Sutras designate Bhakti/devotion as the highest form of love.
2. Many of these concepts remain plain intellectual gossip until they are experienced. Yoga is a beautiful way to experience it. So is the company of the wise or seers. Unless experienced, these principles cannot be brought into our day to day life. So if one feels that this is intellectual drama, one needs to focus more on aspects that facilitate your experience.
3. Philosophy in India is called "Darshan" in Sanskrit & Hindi. This simply means that it is what has been "seen" by "seers", who were often practitioners of yoga (not just asanas, but the Ashtanga or eight fold path of Yam, Niyam, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dhaarana, Dhyana & Samadhi OR Bhakti/Karma/Gyaan/Dhyan Yog). If it sounds plain intellectual gymnastics to a person, it is not "darshan" at all because it hasn't translated into experience for him/her. Yoga provides us with the tools to experience those states of consciousness from which these philosophies have emanated.
4. Being intellectual and logical/rational is often seen wrongly as against Bhakti or Guru or "Darshan". Sadly, we revel when our philosophers like Adi Sankaracharya are celebrated for their intellectual theories on consciousness, but forget that he was the same person who exalted the Guru principle through his beautiful verses in Guru Paduka Stotram and sang paeans glorifying the emotion of Bhakti through "Bhaja Govindam". In fact, legend  goes that he composed Bhaja Govindam on seeing the futility of an old man trying hard to understand the intricacies of Sanskrit grammar while he was walking by a Ganga ghat. Singing the praise of Govind was an easier way to salvation "here and now" than mastery over Sanskrit, only for the simple reason that it changes the quality of awareness and hence the experiences of life.
5. Spirituality is for old age- Spirituality is the art of keeping your spirit up. It enhances your experience of life. What is the use of enhancing your experience of life if you don't have enough time to live? Shiva was perpetually in meditation in Kailasa. The sole purpose of the Gods in wanting him to marry Parvati was to bring his knowledge to the world rather than keep it confined to the Himalayas. It keeps you in touch with your conscience and empowers you to make better decisions in life. How can it help if you leave it for the time after you have already made all the important decisions? What use would Bhagvad Gita be of if it were not revealed to Arjuna when he needed it the most- in the unkindest "real" world situation possible, i.e. the war of Mahabharata?
6. "We don't believe in spirituality. We just have faith in basic human values/goodness"- This is an oxymoron. Spirituality IS about basic human goodness. While as a beginner we have faith in human values, spirituality is just about enhancing our knowledge of and enriching our expression and vocabulary of the ways in which these values manifest in real life. To me, spirituality is trying to understand how things/life work(s) in this world and adapt myself accordingly to save my energies by fixing my priorities and being very conscious of how, where and when I invest myself into. My father does not listen to any discourses unlike my mother. He does his job perfectly like she (my mom) does, is kind enough to people to help them whenever he can, is open to interacting with people from views diametrically opposite to his and genuinely learn from them (not just intellectual debating or finding solace in complaining together), and to my surprise, open to Yoga & its sister sciences when its mechanism is explained to him. He is a Karma Yogi in disguise in a sense. And these qualities have enabled him to take some decisions which I think were far more visionary than most people in the society around him. Though he might not use the word "spiritual" for himself, if this is not spirituality, I can't see what else is. I hope I am able to get my point across. Mere calling oneself spiritual is a bad way to be spiritual. The actions need to reflect the quality of consciousness, and they often do.
7. "We are too busy for this"- Well, few people know that Mahatma Gandhi meditated for an hour daily. And on days when he was much busier than other days, he meditated twice. The point is, that if we can enhance our grasp of the basics of how life works, we will find it easier to make way for the things we want without resorting to extremes. The people in most rush often end up doing much less than what they thought they would. Those who have lesser difficulty in their thoughts getting translated into actions & reality often are highly aware of at least themselves. We are not just our body. There are multiple layers of consciousness beyond this "body", which is often discarded as soon as we die. These other layers of our existence (English can only express it as mind/soul, but there is a wealth of terms in Sanskrit for the numerous different aspects) affect the way we work and interact with the world. Their knowledge gives us a broader awareness and perspective of life. It enables us to take more informed decisions and hold ourselves better in crises. It empowers our actions to better stand the tests of time.

Thus, spirituality is just the art of enhancing our awareness of these layers of our existence beyond just the body, i.e., the spirit. It is NOT the end, nothing is. But it definitely is a very powerful tool for watching your own mind and the drama it creates- if one can watch this calmly, the manifestation of thoughts into reality becomes much less painful. This is why Patanjali Yoga Sutras say "heyam dukham anagatam" or yoga reduces the misery that hasn't even come to us yet. Put simply, spirituality is just keeping the spirit alive with naturalness, innocence and enthusiasm. This more often than not, more than makes up for the Machiavellian scheming, with Karma doing its job perfectly in the long run.

दिल्ली की सर्दी

वैसे कायदे से मुझे इस ब्लॉग का शीर्षक "गुरुग्राम " की सर्दी लिखना चाहिए, किन्तु अधिकतर भारतवासियों के  लिए दिल्ली एवं गुरुग्राम एक ही समान हैं।  ठीक उसी प्रकार जैसे मेरे कई उत्तर भारतीय मित्रों के लिए केरल, तमिल नाडु, आंध्र प्रदेश और कर्नाटक में कोई भिन्नता नहीं रह गई है। वैसे तो यह बात मुझे इसलिए भी नहीं हजम होती, क्योंकि मुझे अपने उन दक्षिण भारतीय मित्रों से बहुत सहानुभूति है जिनकी संस्कृति की गुहार के आगे भी हमारी जहालत पर जूं तक नहीं रेंगती , लेकिन दरअसल  मेरी इस पीड़ा का मुख्य कारण कुछ और ही है।  असल बात यह है कि मेरे स्कूल के दिनों में मेरे माता-पिता और शिक्षकों ने जितनी घिसाई करवाई है, वह व्यर्थ हो, यह मुझे कतई स्वीकार नहीं। स्वीकार तो फिर भी एक नरम शब्द है। इस बात के गंभीरता का अनुमान आप ऐसे लगा सकते हैं कि जिस ज़माने में "मिले सुर मेरा तुम्हारा" दूरदर्शन पर आया करता था, मैंने स्कूल जाना शुरू ही किया होगा, किन्तु मेरे पिता बड़े ही उत्साह के साथ मुझे सारे कलाकारों के नाम से अवगत कराया करते थे-मतलब जितनी बार ब्रेक में ये गाना आये, उतनी दफा मेरा revision होता था ऐसा समझ लीजिये।  आप मुझे इस मामले  में नाज़ी भी मान सकते हैं। चूँकि हमारे प्रधान मंत्रियों को भी हिटलर की संज्ञा दी जा चुकी है , मुझे इस सन्दर्भ में कोई आपत्ति नहीं होगी।

बहरहाल भौगोलिक सूक्ष्मता की दृष्टि से गुरुग्राम एवं दिल्ली एक ही हैं।  और शायद सांस्कृतिक दृष्टि से भी। दक्षिण तथा उत्तर पूर्व भारत की  तुलना में तो बेशक।  इस हेतु हम भारतीयों की इस आतंरिक कलह को कुछ क्षणों के लिए दरकिनार करते हैं।  तो इस सर्दी ने मुझे किस प्रकार आहत किया, अभी के लिए ये बात अधिक महत्वपूर्ण है।  मेरी शिकायतों की सूचि बहुत ही लंबी है।

कोहरा तो यहाँ ऐसा छाता है कि पूछो मत।  इसकी अनुकंपा सारे भारत तक पहुँच जाती है। जाने ही कितनी ट्रेनें और हवाई जहाज़ लेट हुए हैं, और कितने घंटों लेट हुए हैं , इसकी पीड़ा आपको उस कॉर्पोरेट नौकर से जाननी चाहिए जिसने चेन्नई की हसीन सर्दियों में अपनी ३ घंटे की फ्लाइट पर  १८-२०  घंटे के बाद बैठने का सौभाग्य प्राप्त हुआ है।  या नहीं तो वह युवती जिसकी घर जाने की योजना पर ऐसा पानी फिरा के उसकी ट्रेन २४ घंटे लेट हो गयी।  सुबह सुबह अलसा कर खुलती, कम्बल से छुप कर देखती आँखों को खिड़की से जिस दिन भी धुन्ध दिखा, समझो नींद का कोटा कुछ और बढ़ गया।  तापमान भले ही उतना काम न हो, लेकिन कोहरा सोते हुए मस्तिष्क को और भी सुन्न कर देता है, अगले महीने भर के मौसम के अनुमान देखने पर मजबूर कर देता है। उसे फ़िक्र नहीं है कि कम्बल में दुबक के मेरा काम कैसे होगा।  न ही ये फ़िक्र है कि कोहरे की बदौलत बढे आलस से मेरे शरीर में कुछ और किलो का इज़ाफ़ा हो सकता हैं।

अतः उसका साथ देने के लिए आते  हैं  हमारे कुछ और मित्र।  तेज़ हवा - जो पिछले २ वर्षों से मुम्बई में रह कर आये व्यक्ति को इतना कंपकपा दे की वह किसी भी दिल्ली वासी को एक कलकत्ता वासी का साक्षात् शारदीय रूप लगे।  बस इसी बात की एक ख़ुशी मिलती है के बिना धूम्रपान के मुँह से धुआँ निकालने का संतोष प्राप्त होता है। वर्ना हम तो गंगा किनारे की कड़कड़ाती शीत लहरी झेल चुके हैं। हमारे लिए तो मुम्बई , बेंगलुरु और चेन्नई में भी गर्म पानी से नहाना इज्जत पर आंच आने जैसा है। किन्तु दिल्ली , माफ़ कीजिये , गुरुग्राम में इस लिहाज़ से हम कुछ दिनों के लिए अपना  आंशिक धर्म परिवर्तन कर सकते हैं। इसे आपद धर्म कहते हैं।

मकर संक्रांति तक तो गजक रेवड़ी से मन बहल जाता है, लेकिन कुछ दिनों में जब माघ का महीना अपने जलवे दिखाने लगता है तो सर्दी घटने की मृग तृष्णा आपको कम स्वेटरों के बहाने कमर की रुला देने वाली पीड़ा का शिकार बना सकता है।  जो व्यक्ति शुचिता के बहाने से हर मामूली सी बात पे हाथ पैर धोने में विश्वास रखा करता था, सर्दी के भय से वह भी नास्तिक हो जाता है। आलस का आलम ये होता है कि रसोई में ठण्ड में खड़े रह कर बर्फ सा खाना गरम किया जाये खाने के पहले, या बस कम्बल में बैठ कर फटाफट खा लिया जाए। उत्तर कठिन नहीं होता। साधारण तया सरल उत्तर ही जीवन को सरस बनाते हैं।  आप इस पर बहस कर सकते हैं , लेकिन ये बहस आपको दिल्ली की सर्दी में ही करनी होगी। जूते की सोल से तलवे और हड्डियों में पहुँच रही उस वेदना को महसूस होगा।  हाईपोथर्मिया के डर पर विजय हासिल करनी होगी।  और साथ ही स्कूल यूनिफार्म सरीखे ओवरकोट और बूटों की फ़ौज में ना मिल जाने का भी यत्न अगर आप कर सकें, तो ही आप इस अनुभव के लिए योग्य हैं।  धन्यवाद।

For The Love Of Reading: What do YOU care what other people think? by Richard Feynman

Reading had almost turned a rare luxury, but thanks to Feynman, I enjoyed the entire week soaking in the joyfully narrated anecdotes and experiences from the life of an extraordinarily curious and equally light-hearted human being. Haven't really been interested in science of late, but watching some of his interviews on YouTube allayed my fears of the inability to complete what I had suspected a serious book coming from a Nobel laureate. And hence I ordered it. 

My takeaways from the book are many. Feynman's early years regarding how his father invoked curiosity and critical thinking, and lit in him the traits of wondering at marvels of natural phenomena and keenly observing them with a logical eye at the same time- it just reminded me that ideas and how they are invoked are indeed crucial for both parents and children to grow. That the soil needs to be carefully prepared for genius to flourish. The story of his first marriage is one of love and sincerity, iced with dollops of playfulness and a total awareness of the transient nature of life. His random experiments on what would possibly be the most trashed and discarded ideas for us, for the purpose of finding meaningful inferences, to the extent of seeming lunatic- remind me of mining my (mostly unexplored) reserves of infinite curiosity (granted to all humans) to the last possible mile at every moment, and actually not "care what other people think". His ability to freely laugh at himself and on accusations hurled on him, of not caring two hoots about people in authority to the extent of staying as far away as possible from centres of authority, of being able to bring the element of comic relief into his situations of trouble or indecision- all ring a bell as to how important it is to keep the child alive within. 

Feynman doubts freely, but doesn't seem to have even a shade of scepticism. The enthusiasm is palpable and infectious. And not to forget, his knack for storytelling and simplifying the most complex things doesn't really overwhelm the reader, but inspires confidence in her that if Feynman can have such crazy stuff going on in his mind, I'm not a nut case. His mental struggles with human traits like forgetfulness and fascination for individual cheap thrills are so humourously relatable. 

I wish I had read this way before, when I was in school, and would highly recommend everyone to read this. Especially the parents and the kids. It's a treat actually! :)