Goofiest mistakes of my life.

I love living life on the edge and go by my instinct and listen to my heart, brain, soul or my childlike curiosity which gets me in trouble lot of time but the best part is that it has made me live life completely different. I count the quality of life by being out of your comfort zone. Even though, if it involves committing mistakes out of actions without thinking or thinking. In my case, my mistakes are usually funny since I laugh about them upon my own silly attitude. Following are some silly moments of my life.


Goofiest mistakes:

1) Biting hand of the principal of my school on being to told to sing ringa ringa roses. It was the first time, I was introduced to classes of moral science.

2) Visiting a haunted well in the middle of the jungle where my car started rolling on its own even though it was parked with caution. I have never visited that place again.

3) Out of curiosity to be like fish, trying to take out breathing equipment of scuba 40 feet underwater.
4)  Trying to touch venomous scorpionfish out of curiosity only to be saved by scuba diving instructor.

5) Jumping in high tide waves of the Arabian sea on being challenged by the boatman. Later I realised he did not jump and was playing a prank. Thank god I concentrated during my swimming lessons.

6) While jogging in the middle jungle, I tried to tease few monkeys by making funny faces.That was the last time, I ran like Usain Bolt.

7)Visiting a 500-year-old haunted fort during dusk and cracking jokes about the king who ruled the place. I experienced the phenomenon of being followed by unearthly beings and later on had to leave because of crumbling of leaves behind me. I have started respecting kings after that except for british ones ;).

8) Taking lift from a 24-year-old crazy driver (he wanted to be a pilot) who was hallucinating due to lack of sleep while driving during the night and was continuously calling me co-pilot.  I doubt whether he was driving the car or the car was driving him.

9) Telling a girl " she has put on some weight". Never ever say such a thing.

10)  To make a girl feel secure and safe, I told her "I am Batman" and impersonated his voice. It was the first time, I witnessed human being's immense potential of decision making. She took the decision to leave in microseconds even faster than the speed of light. Never say you are 'Batman" out of excitement.

11) Grabbing a Scorpio during low visibility thinking it was a cricket ball.

12) Volunteering on being asked to fight a beautiful karate instructor for a demonstration session to martial art students. I don't know how many of my bones she broke including the heart. :)

13) Travelling half way across India for a girl not once but twice as I had promised her. At least railway appreciated my loyalty and gave me a discount for a third trip which I did not avail.Lessons were learned.

14) Standing at the edge of a door to breath fresh air in a train running at 120 km/hour which suddenly crossed a bridge 150 feet high with turbulent water flowing down the river. I become colder than liquid nitrogen at that moment out of fear.

15) Asking wife of a CEO of a company that whether she takes decision for the company. I thought she was like Michelle Obama, which was not true. I almost crashed the deal we were about to sign with that company.

16) Having vodka shots a night before the exam and turning up prepared for the wrong subject the next day. I failed of course in the exam but succeeded in making a memorable moment.

I am now going to conclude this post, even though I might require a book to cover all of them but it is enough for today.

As you would realise by now that almost all of the mistakes could have been avoided, were also attributable to my own disregard of not thinking before taking any actions and trusting the universe blindly; but then to get out of the 'normal zone' is my speciality.

We can not enjoy life by being in comfort zone or by being afraid of committing mistakes. If you feel like doing something just do it. Like I do every time, each time, without fail. Sometimes with mistakes and sometimes without.

A wise man once said- mistake are stepping stone to success.

Power of she

One of the biggest life changing lessons has been taught to me by some incredible women in my life from my mother, sister, aunts, cousins to my friends.  I have always admired women all my life and has been awestruck and inspired by their courage, compassion, smartness and intelligence.Having been lived on this planet for 25 years, I had been a  keen observer of society including men, women, and children. One of the observations I have noticed is that women are slightly more stronger than men in all dimensions of an existence of human being. Be it emotional, physical (endurance), spiritual and intellectual. I have seen women working shoulder to shoulder tirelessly with their male counterparts in 50-celsius heat as a construction worker to leading a nation to greater heights with sheer determination and courage. In my opinion, it is a crime for women to think that she is less than a man just because society is patriarchal or men are muscular. Such societies lack knowledge about what women have achieved over the period of history and have poverty of thoughts in its citizens.  It is the right time for men of such societies to come out of their cocoon of insecurities and accept the fact that a woman has equal right to have similar pay as men, to take leadership roles, to take their own decisions and dare to dream big dreams and achieve them and of course be cool with a women not changing her surname after getting married. Following are some of the examples of women who have done something different just by sheer grit, passion, and courage to take the road less traveled. There are numerous other extraordinary examples including the lady construction worker pushing her limits in 50 deg celsius heat to feed her kids and return back home after work to cook food and feed them.

Here it goes: 

Anu Vaidyanathan- India's first triathlete to have completed Ironman.

 An entrepreneur, author, and athlete, she has completed Ultraman Canada (swim 10km-bike 425.6km -run 84.4km ) and has a record of completing her PhD in 2 years.

Nungshi and Tashi Malik: First twins to scale seven summits and reach north pole and south pole.

At the age of 24, these twins have climbed all the highest peaks of each continent and traveled to north pole and south pole by walking. They have followed their passion for setting an example and are presently working for women empowerment.

Colonel Nicole Malachowski- First female Thunderbird pilot.

She has flown F-35, F-16 and flew in number 3 as only women fighter pilot in one of the world's best aerobatics team in the world called Thunderbirds.She is commanding a squadron of 25 fighter planes.

Dr. Seema Rao - India's only female commando trainer

She is the only female commando trainer in CQB in India to have trained special forces, paramilitary and national security guards. She has mastered 6 types of martial arts and the only trainer of jeet Kune do in all of Asia. An avid skydiver, she has numerous national awards to her name.

Sunita Williams- Commanded International Space Station.

She has done more than 50 hours of spacewalk and has been commander of more than two expeditions to international space station. She has been a helicopter pilot and has completed a marathon in space by running on a treadmill in space station.

                                 

Arunima Sinha- First female amputee to scale Mt Everest.

She has conquered all odds and proved her grit by scaling mount Everest after losing her leg in a train accident.She is also a seven summiteer just like the Malik sisters and is presently opening a training school for athletes in India.

Archana Sardana- India's first base jumper.

She is a skydiver, scuba diving instructor, and India's first base jumper. She has done more than 200 skydives and has more than 20 base jumps to her record.

Shital Mahajan- Skiver and 5 World record holder.

She has skydived over the north pole and south pole in -40 deg celsius without trial attempts. She has 5 World records and 12 national records to her name.

There are thousands of examples like them but if I cover them all it may take ages to write and might exceed the limit of my blog. From breaking hearts of lovers, bones of criminal and records of Gunness book of world records, women has achieved the impossible and has reinvented societies, companies, families, men, kids and themselves.  In the end all I have to say is 

"If women can produce a new human being they can do anything impossible" 

I rest my case.

This post is dedicated to the women in Uniform and all the  lovely and strong ladies whom I have had the honor of knowing and the fortune of spending my time  with them.

The Joy of values

One of the biggest joys of life is waking up early in the morning and looking yourself in the mirror and feeling grateful for the moral values you were instilled by your parents and friends.  Having the freedom to live your life the way you want and having your ethical values and principles shaping your moments, hours, days, months and eventually, our life gives a great deal of joy and makes you feel different from the crowd. Moral values combined with your personality makes you a remarkable individual and agent of change who could change this World into a better place in their own respective ways.  One of the biggest gift from me to myself is self-respect which is nothing but a reflection of your moral values.
Here are few of the thoughts which originate from the values that have been taught to me by people who had been an integral part of my life. These thoughts have given me immense joy to me ultimately making my life wonderful and this journey called life a fantastic experience.

Thoughts:

Be a man of honor, respect yourself and other human beings.

Live life with compassion, kindness and love for fellow human beings.

Be a person who could be useful to others.

Support other human beings during tough times.

Take care of planet earth and animals around you.

Don't judge anyone one the basis of someone's caste, religion, education and amount of wealth they pose.

Think good for others and rejoice in their success.

Be grateful for the freedom you enjoy.

Take pride in your own nationality.

Live life with integrity and always do the right thing.

Stand up for those who are weak and protect them.

Empower other people and lift them up.

Treat people the way you want yourself to be treated.

Be brave and stick to your promises.

Fight your demons and defeat them

Avoid gossiping about others.

Out of approx 60000 thoughts I experience on a daily basis, these are one of the most important ones which have shaped me as a  human being and continues to make me better with every passing day.
No matter how many sports car, big houses or private jets you own, only one thing that you create by your own and defines you and shapes your life are your thoughts, values, and principles. So learn and create them with pride, love, and happiness.
I would like to end this post by a quote by Winston Churchill:

The only guide to a man is his conscience; the only shield to the conscience is the rectitude and sincerity of his actions. It is impudent to walk through life without this shield because we are so often mocked by the failure of our hopes and upsetting of our calculations; but with this shield, however, the fates may play, we always march in the ranks of honor.”
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Bucket list and a mug full of craziness.

I am writing again after a very long time. I wanted to write a post regarding this particular topic from a very long time, but my brain took charge over my heart and managed to procrastinate to the extent that I have a world record in procrastination to my name. Welcome to this very post after 3 months which is a bucket list of my crazy mind which generates 60,000 thoughts a day. I would be a millionaire by now if I were being paid for thinking but who wants a million bucks if you are drawing horizontal lines over words with teeth flashing white light in happiness on checking things off your bucket list.
It might sound crazy but who cares as long as it is making me happy and giving you a chance to laugh sitting on a cranky chair in suburban tier 1 or tier 2 city in a software company with a sweaty manager siting on your head to finish a project before the deadline. So my dear friend laughs mug : with at least think about your bucket list, tilt your head and let gravity do the justice to your manager.
Bucket distant

 To join special forces and win a gallantatleastKirti Chakra)

 To meet President Obama,P rime Minister Modi, Richard Branson, Satyabrata Dam, Navin Gulia, Abhilash Tommy, Dilip Dhonde, Ajeet Doval and Dr. Devi Shetty.

To open a NGO for soldiers and develop a health care insurance scheme for India.

 To chair a meeting of all the World leaders and convince them to develop an action plan to establish World peace (Seems impossible but worth trying).

 To be a mountaineer and climb a peak above 8000 meters.

 To be a stand up comedian and make at least 10000 people laugh.( Right now the number is few       hundred).

 To give a Ted talk.

 To complete an Ironman Marathon or at least a marathon.

 To be a Rickshawala for few days.

 To be a meditation teacher. ( So far managed to teach my flatmate who fall asleep while meditating)

 To wear Batman Suit and fight goons.( Having gadgets and Catwomen depends on the funds I have)

  To visit Kargil War Memorial.

I know a lot of these are dreams rather than Bucket list. But I am hopeful I will be able to achieve it in this life or maybe next incarnation. What are you waiting for! Write down your bucket list and go grab your dreams.

Guardian of the country: A letter from a martyred soldier to his son.

A Soldier's letter to his son

Dear Son,


By the time you are reading this letter i will be in heaven smiling and seeing my family of 1.2 billion Indians and imagining how my country looks from the top.Well Wg Cdr Rakesh Sharma rightly said " Sare jahan se acha, Hindustan hamara". Our country looks beautiful from the top and so does our lovely planet.

Son, I have written this letter to teach you few lessons that i was hoping to give you when you will grow up as a young army brat  but life is uncertain which is why i am writing you this letter. The beauty of uncertainty is that it makes you strong by giving challenges.  I am mentioning few important lessons which have guided me through out my life and i hope they will guide you in overcoming challenges thrown to you by life and mould you in an incredible human being.

1)Be brave in life
Life will be tough for you since you won't be having me by your side in time of need.Even though I will be telling God to send some help to you from my brothers in the armed forces in time of need but try to take tough times as an opportunity to learn and make yourself stronger. Clinging on to bravery was one of the best action in my life which helped me keep calm in between raining bullets in an encounter and helped me stand strong in the battlefield.Always be brave!!!

2)Live in service to your people
Always try to contribute in development of society and help other people. One of the best feelings that I had was receiving a thanks from an old man whom i had rescued during floods in J and K. No material possession can give you joy as strong as a receiving gratitude from people you help. As long as you are living in service to your people, every right thinking human being will take care of you and stand by your side in tough times.

3)Be kind in life
Kindness develops purity in soul and purity in soul gives you courage to do great things. Being kind to the Jawans of my platoon helped me gain trust from my team members and ultimately helped me in becoming a better leader and a better human being. As long as you are kind to people around you they will have faith in you and motivate you to be a better version of yourself.

If you inculcate these 3 qualities in your life. I can assure you of a life full of respect, adventure, happiness, contentment and character. These 3 qualities have always helped me in fulfilling my purpose of service to the people of India.I hope you will understand that your father had a duty to do,  a passion to follow and responsibility to protect his family of 1.2 billion Indians.

Do take care of yourself and i am confident you will achieve greatness in life. I have to leave now as i have to report to the commanding officer of  planet Earth  and discuss about the regiment in the Indian army i will be opting for  in my next incarnation.I will see you in your dream with more stories to tell.

Loads of love,


An Indian Soldier

To our brothers,past and present-

This is a dedication to India's servicemen.A dedication to the debt we owe to Warriors lost, and to all of our military forces who continue to defend freedom around the world. Men and Women who have honorably served throughout our nation's history-who stood and continue to stand fast in the face of a determined enemy and defeat them with unwavering discipline.


  

50 awesome things in life that we take for granted.

I will start with a quote "Life is what you experience every second not the number of years you have added as your age"
Here are some of the awesome things in life that we take for granted or never try to cherish it to its fullest in a hurry to live life:
1) Aroma of street food while walking down the street.
2)Getting lot of likes on your Facebook wall post.
3)Waking up early in the morning before your alarm clock rings and realizing you have more time to sleep.
4)When you find change ( ek do Rupay chillar) in your drawer after lot of search for a "Sutta pe charcha" session with your friends
5) Seeing a Board written as " SALE" being displayed on a shop of stuff you like.
6)Aroma of home cooked food when you enter home after a long day of work.
7)Smell of detergent in freshly washed clothes.
8) When your friend comes to pick you up at the airport/railway station.
9) When you get  good grades without putting lot of effort.
10)When your crush likes your pictures.
11)When you feel the warmth of sunlight on a sunny winter afternoon.
12) When you get your first salary.
13)The moment when Autowalas straight away puts meter down without negotiation for a ride.
14)Your first flight in an airplane.
15)The feeling of excitement when you land in another country.
16)When you pass an exam which you thought you were going to fail.
17) That moment in Bar when waiter says "SIR, CHAKNA FREE HAI"
18) Taking a hot water bath in a cold winter morning.
19) Moment when your parents call to know about your well being.
20) When a stranger helps you in time of need.
21)Wearing  recently pressed worm clothes on a cold winter morning.
22)  Buying crackers on Diwali.
23)Goosebumps of pride when you hear national anthem of your country.
24)Excitement  of playing truth and dare with your friends (when there is a crush of yours in the group).
25) When someone gives you a compliment.
26)When Parle-G is still in original form after dipping it in a hot cup of tea.
27) That moment when your dog is super excited to see you and waves tail at the speed of light..:D
28) When your phone's battery is more than 50% at the end of the day.
29)When someone standing next to you in a queue leaves and you replace his spot.
30)That moment of opening your FB account and seeing lot of notification, friend request and messages.
31) That feeling of conquering your fears ( proposing to a girl/boy, adventure sports and many more)
32)When you find wifi at random places.
33)Smell of petrol while refueling your car.
34) The earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil.
35)When people clap for you after you have achieved something.
36)That moment when you finish a book with large number of pages.
37)When your attendance is just more than the required limit.
38) When almost whole world seems like wishing you on your birthday.
39) Blowing up candles on your birthday.
40) When you help an elderly person and he/she blesses you to achieve good grades.
41) When a friend calls you and says "Or kamine, kaha hai??"
42) Playing counter strike and going for a head shot with Magnum.
43)That moment when You Tube loads without buffering.
44) When a holiday is declared without prior notification.
45)When things get smoothly done in a typical Indian  government office.
46) Getting a confirmed Tatkal Ticket.
47)When you get crispy currency from an ATM.
48)When you evade police in Grand theft auto.
49)When you download new episodes of your favorite TV series from Torrents.
50) When you exchange smile with a person from your country abroad.

A research suggest that considering a life expectancy of 80 years, an average human being will spend 24 years of his life either thinking about future or past rather than being in the present moment.The beauty of life lies in being aware about the present moment and cherishing what it offers to us. This blog is an attempt to see life from a different perspective and inculcating a spirit to enjoy every second. So live the moment!!!