FIX YOURSELF FIRST

Feeling down and out ?
Lift up your head
and shout -
It's a great day !  - Ruskin Bond

For any problem, generally we seek solution outside.   But, pause for a moment and  look yourself deeply and the solution always always lies within you only.  That's why wisdom masters say Don't try to fix the outside world,  fix yourself first !

Everyone of us must win the daily battles of life by constantly learning from the past mistakes.  If you analyse the reasons of failures, in  majority of cases, the heart is the culprit which don't want to accept logic.  Tame it with hard logic by giving the bait of glittering future.

AN OLD MEMORABLE HINDI SONG FOR RELIGIOUS HARMONY

Cinema is an influencing medium to educate masses.

When people become dogmatic and incite violence in the name religion, awareness is the only available pill that cures all the maladies.

HOW TO BE A STRONGEST MAN ?

The strongest man in 
the world is the man who
stands alone - Thomas H. Huxley

Muscle power alone can't denote potency.  Right proportion of mind power with it takes you to the winning path.

 Being strong and sturdy means having self-conviction, perseverance, inexhaustible desire to overcome all obstacles.

STORIES OF MY LIFE !

An autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful.
                                            -  George Orwell

Don't dismiss on one stroke that all back-benchers are not worthy students.

In good part of my academic life, I did not sit on front bench which people fight for  it.   I am rather a typical boy with a fluorescent bulb-like mind i.e. don't light up immediately !  I can't grasp as quickly as  majority of people do.  I was correctly gauged two decades ago by one  of  my former bosses who graded me as a man of average abilities and I like it very much !  

ROOT OF HAPPINESS

Let me confess first that I am writing this piece when crippled  by  the toothache   on a searing afternoon with sweat moisturizing  my body  and it is a daunting task.  

Mind is not able to pace up   and fingers are not cooperating  to run  with the ideas on the mind screen.    Still, I pulled up my strings  to march ahead.  Because, the subject is  happiness which is my favorite topic.

A newspaper this morning published the views of four young girls on happiness.  The first girl Vibhuti said : happiness for me means selflessness.  Another girl Neelima said : happiness is getting ready for bed and being excited about tomorrow.  Third girl Layshree said : happiness to me is having coffee in a quiet and tranquil place.  The last girl Ayushka quipped : to me happiness means theater. 

BE LIKE RUSKIN BOND

If you have good health, you are young; and if you owe nothing, you are rich.

                          - Ruskin Bond

One of the great influencers on my life is Ruskin Bond. His book A Little Book of Life which was purchased on that rainy afternoon in November, 2014 had completely changed the trajectory of my life.

To write means, to project your world, your view point, your moments of happiness, sorrows, influences, blessings or virtually everything under Sun.

UNKNOWN SUFFERINGS :(

A diseased  plant at Sadiq Nagar Park in South Delhi - courtesy : My Samsug E7

The other day while I was strolling in the park which is my morning ritual, I was stopped by this wailing plant.   Certain leaves of  it were with thick boils, eating way it's vitals.    If it is human, all  he could do is, make loud cries to make the world known of his pain.   Where as this pity plant is silently enduring the pain and only the Creator knows it's distress.     My deep gaze on it reminded me what   Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose, one India's reputed bio-physicist and botanist discovered  decades ago :  plants too breath and feel.   But that discovery can't help us to  gauge their feelings as they they don't have senses like us. 

May be this plant is feeling severe pain, but I can't  understand by seeing it.   

There are so many unanswered questions in  Nature.  May be, unanswerable :( 

MY BLOG ''KNOWEB'' NOW HAS DICTIONARY MEANING

All the main events of my life are deeply interwoven with English which is responsible for my bread and butter.   

In fact, I am a blogger with difference.  I want to keep the flame of learning flickering in all of you.   

DON'T WRITE LENGTHY ONE

Avoid long speeches.
The less a man knows, the
longer he takes to tell it.

                        - Ruskin Bond


Five years of blogging with more than 500 articles, I still feel scare of giving advice on a reader friendly post ?  In fact, there is no hard and fast rules, but only thumb rules.

Ruskin Bond, the grandfatherly figure told in simple two sentences as above.  When I flip through newspapers, magazines or even some blogposts, I feel  that some articles/posts drag unnecessarily to the point of frustration.  Some times the ideas are  narrated  in a very pale and drousy way.

ONLINE BEST CHEF

Courtesy : YouTube

The old adage goes like this : Some times you have  to eat  to live; and some other times, you have to live to eat !

Routine food makes your tongue sour.  Imagine, there is an experienced chef who guides you with a hand in making your choicest food.

GLASS HOUSE IN JAPAN

Glass House in Tokyo, Japan  - Photo Credit : http://www.archdaily.com/

Those who have great aesthetic sense, generally tilt towards transparent or glass colour.  Glass is extensively used now in the interior decoration, furniture, statues, dolls, utensils etc.

Transparent colour gives a soothing effect on your soul and it's my fondest colour.

MY DREAM REALIZED NOW :))

If I look back my blogging journey, it is so treacherous in the initial years, say in 2011.  I used to spend hours to make it happen in the first place.  In fact,  I have not approached any technical hand in designing part and writing for me was a distant dream then.

But, if a man has strong will, what is not possible ?  At the start of my journey itself, I decided that I don't seek anybody's help with regard to design part.  Why because, I have my own aesthetic sense and confident enough to deal with the problem with my own inner resources.

HIGH HEELS, NO PLEASE !

If you feel taller than others in a crowd, the  inner joy is immeasurable.   Here there is no gender-specific behaviour. 

I am neither too tall  nor  short, but medium  height with 167 cms. When I wear my 2 inch black shoes and commute in  Metro train, I feel better in height, than in most of  my  fellow passengers.  In my local travels, I see majority of girls, women travel wearing about 4 inches of high heels and  jostle through busy metro trains and this high heels is a standard gear they don't want to compromise !

THE UNITY OF LIFE !

Location : Sadiq Nagar Park, South Delhi with my Samsung E7

A couple of years back, another fellow blogger asked me : What is your niche ? and I shot back with this reply. My niche is KNOWLEDGE, the Mother of all Niches.

In fact, I don't want to limit myself to certain niche in my writings as it may limit my area of exploration.

HINDI FILM HERO EMRAAN'S BOOK - THE KISS OF LIFE

     Book Review
Nobody knows exactly how life takes you from one situation to another. We do have lots of planning to make it as a bed of roses, but when it slaps you on face with a brick, little you could prepare to endure the suffering.

All pain is not necessarily physical.  Psychological pain is the  severest, one could hardly manage.

The hardest of all battles is battle for life and many sufferers have documented their ordeals in the form of books and this book is one such real battle that was ultimately won by four-year old boy Ayaan, son of Bollywood Actor Emraan Hashmi, who came to limelight with his first runaway hit Murder.    People mostly remember Emraan  for his English Movie-like kisses on screen.

SKY IS THE LIMIT FOR THIS MAN !

Photo credit: The Hindu  dated  5/19/2016

Some wise man  rightly said this : Don't see first page of newspaper when you wake up in the morning; rather see the last page where sports achievements are  covered.

If you unfold the meaning hidden in these lines, you find that the first page of any newspaper reports violence, failures, corruption, politics which generally catch anybody's eye.  Where as, the last page, mainly stays on Sports, Achievements of individuals, Science, History etc.

BE YOUR OWN HERO

Almost anyone can do the first half  of anything; only the people who do  the second half  arrive !

                                                                                   - Ruskin Bond

Most us have weak will  that would have catastrophic effect on our performance.  If somebody demands you to do something and you fail on it,  there is nothing wrong about it.  But, once you decided to do an act  on your own will and if you stop doing it or left in the middle, there is something severely wrong on your side.  You may have convinced the world with your argument, but  you can't convince your  hard intellect which ruthlessly point finger upon you !

In fact, it is a struggle  within your head.  It is a wrangling between pro and against forces within your mind.  Who must win is a decision you need to take.

MY MEMORIES WITH JALEBI IMLI

Credit : My Samsung E7

When I run out of ideas  for my blog, divine intervention comes through my wife.

Though my wife exactly don't help me in my writings, sometimes, she  gives ideas which may  spill into articles.

The image you are seeing is taken from my mobile when my wife brought to me this fallen fruit from the tree nearby my home. It is called సీమ చింత కయ in my vernacular -Telugu. I referred to Google Maa to know it's English equivalent. No sooner had I pinged, the online giant retrieved with this unpronounceable word : Pithecellobium dulce.

KILL EVEN A SMALL SNAKE WITH A BIG STICK

The title of this post is a proverb in my vernacular - Telugu.

Most of us carelessly allow certain unpleasant happenings to repeat in their lives without tightening their belt when they encounter the first ones.  This attitude invites problems or future setbacks.

So crush such avoidable happenings at the bud itself before they take an ugly turn.

Here is a caution for bloggers. Don't allow your  blog's comments option automatic as it would facilitate certain unscrupulous elements to run riot of the situation.  Even, it is not safe to keep our timeline in Facebook  in the hands of what we call friends.  If somebody  with a mischievous intention gives undesirable or objectionable comments on your social media handlers,  instead of indulging into verbal spat with them, simply block such blacksheeps from your path.

I had a couple of bitter experiences on this count and therefore scrupulously follow this dictum.  So learn the lesson quickly to safeguard your creative life ! 

EXPERIMENT IS KEY TO HAPPINESS

Most of us like to be stereotypic and mindlessly follow others' pattern of actions.  In the process, we are out of sync with our own selves.  This is the root-cause of unhappiness.

There is no such thing like bad place or bad circumstance.  Any place or  person can't be stamped out cent percent  unbearable.  Your reaction to it matters.  That's why we are at varying levels  on the social ladder in society.

When Delhi was in the news for all wrong reasons being the world's most polluted city, on one last winter  afternoon, I undertook my walking journey from AIIMS Metro Station to Connaught place, the city's main marketing hub.

Walking through  the stretch of more than 5 kms  was really enticing.   With a book on one hand and another hand in pocket, I was the most happiest man on  Earth on that day.  The journey was pleasant as I   took regular short breaks  to savour the beauty of  nature and also to read in the surroundings. Words fail to describe my inner serenity.

SEE THE BEAUTY WITH HEART

Credit : My Samsung E7

If you could extol Nature, you need not do any other prayers.  And by doing so, you are indirectly appreciating it's Creator.  This is the ultimate gospel any religion could teach to it's followers.  

Khushwant Singh used to spend a good part of his old age in the park in front of his apartment at  Sujan Singh Park, New Delhi which I visited once to see the ambiance that helped him to churn out  his prose.  

INDIA'S TIMELESS YOGA

It is same old story, but with a new revelation. India's ancient Yoga System has tons of physiological and psychological benefits.   

When you are a fitness freak, your eyes could immediately catch all those who are on action. 

It is a  a familiar scene nowadays in my local park - Sadiq Nagar, South Delhi.  This middle-aged man with eyes closed is doing silently pranayam, an ancient breathing exercise that would give immense health benefits. 

MY PHOTOGRAPHY MANIA

Sunrise in Sadiq Nagar Park, south Delhi - © www.knoweb.in

Recently my colleague wittily commented  in a facebook post that I could open a photo studio after my retirement.  I could understand  his contents.  He tried to appreciate my photographic skills, of course in a sarcastic way. and I don't feel offensive !

If I look back in my life,   it is correct that I am  a bit crazy with photography since my childhood.   This desire took a new turn when I started earning.  But after marriage, the desire intensified as I felt the need to document my marriage life phase after phase so that it would not only  help my posterity  to know the stories associated with the events but help me to chew the cud of those pleasant moments.

WE ALL OWE TO OUR MOTHERS !

“God could not be everywhere, so He created mothers”  - Author Unknown 

For the last two days, my mind is hankering to share my story on the occasion of  Mother's Day which is being celebrated on 2nd Sunday of May  in most parts of the world.

We all owe to our mothers what we are today in life ! The word mother symbolizes caring, compassion and  unwavering loving without expecting anything in return  from the child.  That's why, we use the phrase  motherly care.  Father gives logistic and financial support to the child  where as mother actively participates in the child's day to day development due to which children are naturally closer to their mothers and not fathers in majority of  the cases.

I AM A READING AMBASSADOR

Reading is like an intoxicant that addicts to indulge in more ! The itching increases with time, but it keeps you sane all through life !

 I was born in a family where my father used to  read newspapers and magazines with large chunks of time.  I could vividly remember that even a waste paper that comes to his way with a snack is not neglected and he takes a curious look  at it  to find any interesting stuff to read.   That habit stealthily entered into my system and stayed long enough, and I love to enjoy it.  May be that is the possible reason for my habit of high dose of reading  or you could say, encoded in my genes!