The Lifeboats: 'Hope' and 'Determination'

After a really long time, returned today to pen down a few thoughts here. I was just looking back at those times yesterday; trying to understand what saw me through the storm and brought me to where I am today. There were many factors that I can attribute this to. I’d penned down a few lines on this blog sometime back (Link)- ‘When the ship broke down, you said don’t drown; I carried on…’. The fact is that when I survived that ship wreck (figuratively speaking) and decided to swim along, it wasn’t just the will power or luck, or blessings alone; it was in mathematical terms, a ‘union’ of all the factors. The two key factors that constitute ‘will power’, when things all around you are going wrong, are: ‘hope’ and ‘determination’. All other factors either depend on these, or contribute to strengthen these.

‘Hope’ per se is not sufficient for anyone to sail through, because for all you know, one can hope for anything and everything. It has to be supported by ‘determination’ to actually believe in it. This determination might come from one’s understanding of the situation (what went wrong/ what next), the options available, mental and psychological support one has, etc. and most importantly the faith one has in his/ her own capability. In those days while I was on the hospital bed, there were several thoughts of ‘what next, where do I go from here’. I was totally new to the world outside the green uniform and it was the environment around me (sister, mother, friends...) that showed me the choices I had. The route I decided to take had a high element of risk; and was one of the toughest ones to take. This was where the ‘determination’ came in. It didn’t come JLT as they say (Just Like That), but after a lot of due diligence on what was required out of me and knowing that come what may,- ‘I could and have to do it’.

It is the combined force of these two factors that can help one sail through troubled waters. It’s the ‘Hope’ that you will ‘get’ through and ‘determination’ that you ‘will’ get through, that combine and make sure that you ‘will get’ through...

Ciao ppl !!
Ciao Life !!

Married...and on Cloud 9

Coming back to blog on the blog after a long time, really long time…. Had my one month anniversary recently and life couldn’t have been better….. The entire ‘marriage process’ was exciting and interesting.… From the pre-pre marriage preparations to pre-marriage…. to the ‘marriage’ and post marriage celebrations…. Very tiring yes, but it was something we’d been waiting for a long time….It’s a great feeling to know that that someone is there and will be there for you, no matter what; just as you will be there for her…..These days no one blinks an eye the moment I leave office (dot on time or even before), even if that means taking calls from home…home has got altogether a new meaning now :) …. So many things have changed…for the good that is…

All married men keep saying that this is only the beginning, slowly things fade away… I don’t plan to walk that road though…. I still believe that keeping a relationship alive and fresh is in the hands of the people holding it…..Thanks everyone for the good wishes. Here are some of my marriage pics:

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/rajat.the.one/ReceptionMrgPics#

Got Engaged !! :)

So finally, here comes the post I’ve been waiting to write for so long… status on Orkut became committed on April 27th, got engaged on 29th and getting married in June. Everything happened so fast, hardly any time to enjoy the news as it came… So here goes the update of the when and how. We first came to know each other around one and a half years back . In the mid of the first year, I was a part of the hospitality cell of Chaos Nasha 2008 (our cultural festival at IIM A), I had to flood my 'colleges of responsibility' with scraps on Orkut for contact information for the fest. She happened to be an alum of one of those colleges and that was the beginning of an era, so to say. And the interaction moved from scraps…to chats…to calls…to the first meet and meets thereafter...to the first exchange of the three words and the proposal...so that’s how (in a few words)...
A day prior to the convocation, on April 27th, went to meet my in-laws with mom and sis. There was that inherent tension/ uneasiness before reaching, but it slowly melted away and we ended up fixing the month of the marriage as June. Flew back to Ahmedabad the next day for convocation on April 28th and the same day it was decided that we should get engaged right now itself (of-course, both of us didn’t mind that at all…), So off we were back the next day and the ring ceremony was performed on April 29th. Here are the pics (Link)…
Feels great…after a long and patient wait… with uncertainty forming a noose…. with God's grace and everyone's well wishes, it happened very smoothly. As my course (Army batch) completes 6yrs after commissioning (14 June 2003) and all of them get the rank of a Major, I’d also be moving on to my next stage of life in the same month…
Long way to go….
Ciao ppl
Ciao life

An Alum again... IIM A

So I’m an alum now (Pics)...the student life is technically over. When I’d joined the NDA, had thought- ‘Goodbye to studies’…and I just passed out of the most studies-oriented institute I know of, in the country. It has been quite an experience, for the lack of words. I had seen myself stretch to the limit of physical endurance in the NDA days and knew that there is actually no such limit. It’s all in the mind, as they say. The same rigor happened in a different way in the first year at IIM A and a different set of skills were required to swim through the same. In both the places, when things became really impossible (1^st&2^nd term at NDA, 1^st semester at IIM A), seniors built up the morale by just saying that so many people have got through…you will also survive…just keep your head above the water, keep swimming and don’t give up. A few countable numbers did give up both the times, but rest of the batch sailed through and went on to become smart officers and good managers respectively.

I made a great number of life-long friends in both the schools of learning. In NDA there were endless nights and days that we spent together…helping each other in tough times, enjoying punishments and living through them by giving mutual support, having parties, socials and great fun in spite of all circumstances. Even at IIM A we spent endless nights having group meets, presentations, great fun, endless movies on the LAN…The bondage that was developed in these two institutes is so strong that one would go out of his way to help another coursemate.

I would really cherish the moments spent in this institute…those 0100hrs group meets that actually began at 0200hrs after yapping around and finishing off the work in the last 1 hour…ordering maggi in the midnight and rambhai’s midnight chai…those 23:59:59 deadlines and WAC run…the rem sessions of MANAC& the lunch time MANAC quiz notice….the experience of T-nite and d section bonding….the God-level professors and the die-hard sleepers of section B…helping out each other in times of stress…watching movies in parts every day in spite of the routine…the list goes on and on and on to the day we stood in the LKP with the degree in hand watching each of our batchmate walking past us…Those were the fleet of ships that fleeted right through the storm and came out in flying colours…

This is the beginning of an end…another beginning to another end…whereupon I step into a new pair of shoes, dawning on another role…

Ciao ppl

Ciao life

All the world's a stage... & spilled milk...

Read a science fiction yesterday and it reinforced the stand I have towards fretting over spilled milk. The novel was ‘To say nothing of the Dog’ by Connie Willis (Download link). It’s based on time travel into the past, and how the protagonists try to undo a change that causes an imbalance in the working of the space-time continuum. The system self corrected the incongruity by changing a few minor events but keeping the major events constant. As per the storyline the concept of even freewill was questioned. Nevertheless, I believe that all big things in life are predestined and one cannot go about thinking of what If ‘A’ hadn’t happened, and ‘B’ had happened instead. That’s not the way life works. Probably what the novel also talks about in a way is that the script (All the world’s a stage...) is already written and one can’t go about changing the theme that is the heart of the story for a character. Some time back I used to think- what If the driver of that fateful tractor had become late due to whatever reasons, what If I had left the place earlier by say 5 minutes or what If I had stayed put inside the cantonment and not have been driving in the first place, and the likes. However, as many movies based on the theme (like the ‘Final Destination’ series) have tried to state, you can’t change your script. Everyone plays his part in the grand design. It’s something like you have to go from A to Z in your life. On an average, everyone’s B, C, D... comes at various points of time and also to a different extent. What is left to freewill is how you go about going from B to C, C to D etc.

What one can do is to firstly live the part one’s playing, that is- enjoy doing what one does. Secondly, there are choices that one makes: there’s always a choice (Link). Once you make that choice weighing the situation, stand by it and don’t have any regrets (even if you have any). If the choice was right, good for you and if it was wrong, it’s a sunk cost. As the adage goes, ‘don’t cry over spilled milk’...taking it forward, we needn’t even keep thinking what we would have done had it not been spilled.
Ciao ppl !!
Ciao Life !!

A few lines....

Few lines dedicated on this valentine, to that someone....

I was walking a lonely path, aloof and alone;

Bliss was the next stop, I hadn’t known.

Then came an angel, brighter than thy eyes could see;

I asked of myself, could this be ‘The one’ for me?

Side by side we walked along;

Nights seemed shorter, days seemed long.

Time whizzed by and distances began to pare;

Sure enough, there was something in the air.

One fine day, the momentous moment came;

When cupid struck, the dude and the dame.

Sweet words flew across, that beauteous night;

Those starry skies had never been so bright.

A voice from the sky, smiled on me-

“All that is beautiful is thine to be”.

Walking on the path, no more alone;

Bliss is all around, love has only grown.

I have an angel, brighter than thy eyes could see;

She is the one, ‘The one’ for me.

ciao life...

My Autobiography

I finally wrote my autobiography (as a part of a course here, though)...spent quite some time in reminiscing, pondering over things, a few thoughts from this blog.... published it in a new blog, since it was usuriously long - Link