This is for my 'Ma'.

"Dreams are not the ones that you see when you are asleep; rather they are the one that do not let you sleep until they are achieved" We all dream. Some of us dream when we are asleep, and some of us dream with our eyes open. But there are dreams which do not let us sleep, they keep us awake. They make us restless, at times makes us confused. At times this confusion can be very irritating. But then it helps us to make plans, plans which are so important for our existence. I also dared to dream, in fact so many of them. At every stage of my life there was a dream. I don’t know if it is good, but what ever I am today, it is all because I dared to dream. There were times when I used to think that maybe I am insane. From a Soccer Player, Fighter Pilot, Singer, Tabla Player and God knows what. It is true that dreams changes with the circumstances of ones life. But still one should dream and dream big. I remember a teacher from my Art College, who ones said, ‘khudi ko karo buland itna ki har taqdeer se pehle, Khuda bande se puche, bata tera razaa kya hai’. I am one of the lucky few because there is someone who believes in my dream. It really drives you and gives an impetus to accomplish your dream. I am so lucky because there are so many people who have faith in my dreams. But the person whose name comes first in my mind is my Mom. She has faith in my dreams. She always encourages me. At times I have doubt in what I dream and I am really scared, but, she believes in me so much that I can’t let her down. I have joined the Film Direction Course, I am so excited about it, but am feeling bit apprehensive about it. Don’t know what is going to happen, but she told me that everything will be fine. Now I have the strength and the belief.

‘Sir, I am scared that others might laugh at my drawing’.

Prerna was in class 2nd, joined my weekend Drawing Classes. She was very shy and won't speak, that’s what I thought. Weeks passed, so did months, she didn’t even bother to take out pencil, eraser or colors from her bag. I saw a strange type of fear on her face, something which was very new to me. Never had a student like that. I thought that I won’t take fees for her. In fact I told her Mother about that, but she insisted that I take the fees. She said that she had seen changes in her after she joined the drawing classes. I observed her from day one; even I saw a change in her attentiveness in the class. Though she won’t do a thing or say a thing, but her eyes didn’t miss anything I did in the class. Everyday she would come in time and be very nice in her manners and would leave when her mother came. She started wishing me after about 11 classes. She said ‘Sir Bye’. Oh GOD, that was an day of acceptance. I loved it. I told her mother about that. She also felt elated. This was a very small thing, a thing which never gets noticed, but I knew that it was a big step taken by her. Time passed by, it was almost 3 and half months, since she had joined my classes. Durga Pujo was very approaching; there was a Pujo, Pujo smell in the air. Bengalis will understand the feel of this smell. The feeling is almost like, Christmas or New Year coming. People are in a festive mood. Everyone seems happy, and full of patience. Your wishes come true. It was Sunday, and all my students had gone for drawing competitions, which are organized by different Pujo organizers. I was relaxed, and was sitting in my drawing room, sipping a cup of tea with Sunday morning news paper in my hand. Just got up and was going to switch on the TV, to see the live news. Suddenly the calling bell rang, I opened the door, and guess whom I saw!? Well Prerna was there for the drawing class. It is strange, that a teacher doesn’t know what to do. I told her to come in and sit. She came and took a seat. Then I told her that no one was coming that day, as they had gone for the drawing competition. I thought that she would be confused, but I was surprised to see her reaction. I started to talk to her, which was the first day we spoke. It was so different than those usual Good morning and Bye. I asked her about her school and friends. Then after sometime, she asked me if she could draw something, it was such a pleasant surprise for me. I told her to draw anything she wanted. I was in for another surprise. She announced that she was going to draw the rainbow, which I taught the class about 3 and half month back. I said yes to her. She started the drawing and stopped me when I tried to help her. This was a difficult drawing, as kids had to remember the VIBGYOR, and the angle of the Sun and Rainbow. To my surprise, she drew everything to perfection. Her drawing was the best. I asked her if she wanted to colour it. Her answer was in affirmative. I asked her that if she remembered the sequence of the colour in a rainbow. She just said, ‘VIBGYOR’. I was feeling great. I was just watching her, and her involvement. She finished the drawing pretty fast and asked for my comment. I had to say that her drawing was the best in the class. Actually it was. Then I asked her, that if she drew so well then why she didn’t do it in the class? I told her that she was the best. She just said, ‘Sir, I am scared that others might laugh at my drawing’. She was in my class for about 3 years, and then her Dad was transferred to Cairo and they left. Before she left, she gifted me a painting, it was a still life done with pencil. Her mother told me that her academic performance improved after she joined the drawing classes. She is a case study for me. It showed what confidence or lack of it can do to a person. If we really want to help someone, then we should try sincerely to boost a person’s confidence. Rest we can be assured that the person will take care of himself.

The mural I designed...

This is the mural I designed for Blue Lotus Communications, in the year 2006. The concept is about sharing of knowledge. In life we need a teacher or an inspiration to get the Knowledge. Sun is the center of the solar system, and hence has been depicted as that specific moment, where an Idea clicks.

Wake up Indians

Posted in today's Pakistani newspaper where they are showing entire India as Pakistani country by 2012 & 2020.

These are the links:

By 2012

http://express.com.pk/epaper/PoPupwindow.aspx?newsID=1100533603&Issue=NP_LHE&Date=20081203

and by 2020

http://express.com.pk/epaper/PoPupwindow.aspx?newsID=1100533604&Issue=NP_LHE&Date=20081203

Lower back pain

Lower back pain

1. Standing hamstring stretch: Keep your leg on a table and hold the lower part of your leg and bend forwards.

2. Cat and camel: kneel on your knees and put your palms on the floor as a cat, then arch your back as a cat and then transition your back as a camel's.

3. Pelvic tilt: Keep the hands behind the head and lift your back from the floor hold for 2 seconds and then release.

4.Partial curl: Keep your hands behind the head and raise your upper body towards the opposite side and then lay back flat.

5: Extension Exercise: Rest on your abdomen and keep your elbows at right angles, then make your elbows straight and stretch your back.

6: Piriformis stretch: Rest on your back and lift both your legs, cross-legged and make them touch your abdomen.Some Other Exercises That Can Be Done to reduce Your Low Back Pain Low Back Pain Exercise Guide Regular exercises to restore the strength of your back and a gradual return to everyday activities are important for your full recovery. Your orthopaedic surgeon and physical therapist may recommend that you exercise 10 to 30 minutes a day one to three times a day during your early recovery. They may suggest some of the following exercises. This guide can help you better understand your exercise and activity program, supervised by your therapist and orthopaedic surgeon.

Looking for someone?

A co passenger, who used to travel with you in the morning or used to be there in the evening train with you, may be you will never see him again. Yes he was not that lucky on that ominous day. He was shot dead the other day, on 26th of November. Today I may remember the fight I had with him for a seat or may be he pushed me. All those thought comes back. The day I lost my cool, may be it was his fault, but I also lost my cool. It was a small issue, but today my eyes are wet. I realized that his presence is negligible for me or others but I miss him. Yes, we started as enemies without any cause, but slowly became friends. We started by a simple smile, maybe remembering the day when we fought for the first time. But that was past, very recently we started talking. We used to talk on variety of subjects, Cricket, Politics, Share, Films, Society and so on. I never asked him his name, neither did he? We even used to share the seat half way our journey. Today when I think of him, my eyes get wet. I am confused. Mind seems confused, a time comes when our thought process stops, hope comes to a halt, but we still look for an answer. What is his family doing may be he was the only bread earner for them? His parents, wife, kids and his friends, how are they coping with the loss? Just don’t understand why innocent people had to die and leave their loved ones missing them for ever. So many people from our forces gave their lives for us. Some of them were the brave officers from the department. They were just doing their duty. What is happening around us and why is all this happening!!! Logically the sentence should end with a question mark, but again logic doesn’t hold now. Why did they pay for someone else’s misdoing!? Yes we all want peace, want to live in a perfect society where no one will live in fear. We all want it. We all want to see our loved ones at the end of the day. Yes, we all want it. Why do people take revenge by killing innocent people, those who did nothing to them? Who created these situation, why is there so much of hatred. We all love someone or some cause, but do we need to kill for that? There is no end to the list, and it is growing day by day. The hatred is also growing with it. Now we are saying that politicians created the situations and we are paying for it. But then why did we follow those politicians when they tried to divide us. How can some force divide us on the basis of religion, caste and the place we are from? Are we still going to follow the people who try to divide us, or we are going to create a new society. When will we create a society where everyone lives with out fear, where everyone returns back home to his or her loved ones, where people will have compassion for everyone? It will be so nice when guns, bombs and other weapons of mass destruction will never be produced. We will be producing more food, clothes, houses, jobs. Everyone will smile and be happy. Birds won’t fly in despair by the sound of a gun fire. Is it that difficult to want a society like that? But then man kind is supposed to do difficult things. Aren’t we? Lets give it a honest try.

Dada, I will miss you…

Many will say that I love Sourav, because he is a Bengali. That is a perception which almost everyone has about any Bengali liking Sourav. We don’t need to give any clarification to that portion of the society. But yes, I like him because India has not produced a cricketer of his stature. May be he was not a Wall, or a Little Genius - who broke all the records, or a person who gave his best against Australian, or a Golden Boy- who gave India a World Cup in 20-20, but yes his contribution to Indian Cricket is Unparalleled by any standard. He gave our cricket a new look, gave confidence and self belief to the younger generation. He never tolerated any nonsense from any rival captain or player. He didn’t believe to stuff the National Team with players from his state or zone, which was actually the system before he took over the mantle of Indian Team. He is an Indian, who believed in the true sense of the word INDIAN and practiced it. Sehwag, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Irfan, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Nehra, Parthiv, Agarkar and many others were not from Bengal, but he believed in them. There was a time when Dravid was almost dropped from Indian One Day team, but he retained him, showed faith in him and made him play as a keeper, just because he was one of the best batsman. When people and press were after Sachin's life because he was going through a bad patch, he supported him and requested everyone to leave him alone. This was all done in the interested of the team.

There are many who believe that he can’t play fast bowling or the rising balls, yes may be he can’t, but then how can someone make 7212 runs, 42.17 average, 16 centuries, 35 fifties in 113 Tests and 11363 runs, 41.02 average, 22 centuries, 72 fifties in 311 One Day Internationals. I feel that somewhere in our system still we are suffering from the colonial mentality. Still we can’t believe that how can we keep a white captain waiting for toss, no matter if they keep us waiting, how can an Indian Captain take off his shirt in an English stadium, so what if an English player does the same in India. The problem with Dada was that he gave tit for tat. He gave the Indian team what they lacked the most, the Killer Instinct. He gave the younger ones the confidence so that they always played the game with head held high. He stood behind the players who gave their best. He brought the concept of TEAM INDIA. He brought the concept of HURDLE. He brought the concept of MIRROR in the Indian team (if you look nicely at it will see a nice face, but, if you look with an ugly face, then you will see the same reflection in the mirror).

To be continued…

Goddess Durga is a form of Shakti worshipped for her gracious as well as terrifying aspect. Mother of the Universe, she represents the infinite power of the universe and is a symbol of female dynamism.She is also called by many other names, such as Parvati, Ambika, and Kali. In the form of Parvati, she is known as the divine spouse of Lord Shiva and is the mother of his two sons, Ganesha and Karttikeya, and daughter Jyoti. Destroyer of demons, she is worshiped during an annual festival called Durga puja, especially popular among Bengalis.She is usually pictured as having ten arms holding Sword, Conch, Discus, Rosary, Bell, Wine cup, Shield, Bow, Arrow, and Spear. She is most often shown riding a lion from which comes her august name, Simhavahini, "She who stands astride the king of beasts". She is gorgeously dressed in royal red cloth and has several ornaments decorating her personage. Her hair is dressed up in a crown (karandamukuta) which then flows out in long luxuriant tresses that are darkly luminous and soothing to the eye.She went to battle on her ferocious mount lion, armed with the weapons given to her by the other Gods. Durga is one of the angry and aggressive aspects of the goddess Shakti. In the battle, she fought and killed the evil Mahishasura, restored heaven to the Gods and the occasion is celebrated as victory over evil.In West Bengal, Durga Puja is five days of sheer festivity. It hinges around Mahalaya day, a week before the actual celebrations begin. It was on this day that Durga was assigned the task of eliminating evil. So the familiar pose of Durga unleashing her wrath on an outpowered asura (demon). Legend goes that Ram wanted to invoke the blessings of Durga before his great war with Ravan. He performed the Durga Puja despite the time of year not being right. That is why the puja is also known as Akal Bodhon, or untimely invocation. It is only from the day of Mahalaya that the preparations for the Durga Puja reach the final stage. The midnight chants of various hymns of ‘Mahishasura Mardini’ remind one of the beginnings of Durga Puja.The battle started on Shaptami and Ravana was killed at the Shandhikshan (in between) Ashtami and Navami; he was cremated on Dashami. Therefore the four days of the puja that we celebrate ends in the triumph of good over evil. Finally, on 'Dashami,' the tenth day from the new moon, the idol is immersed in the river.