Life's Elliptical

After a long time an idea worthwhile writing about. Or let me say a revelation.
I am a fitness conscious in the making. I got introduced to the concept of Machine Cardio exercises here in the US. You just can't jog out in the open in winter time. The elliptical Precor machines here beautifully explained me the concept of life-quite unknowingly to them.
There are programs, monitors and goals to set. The goal here is something that you need to achieve. It may be calories to burn, heart rate to achieve or just time to spend. Any which way you want, it works. What is your goal is what you need to decide. I almost invariably pick the Max-Calories-to-Burn-in-least-amount-of-time goal. Groovy, aint it?
Now as I start to work my way towards it, I realize that there are lot of variable factors I need to take care of , to achive my goal/target. For eg. I need to maintain my heart rate below a certain level, or I need to pedal optimally so that the speed is not below the threshold or worst enough, is to see how much time I am taking. The moment I want everything to be perfect, its all jacked.
So amidst the event I realize that my heart rate is too high, so I lower my speed. My time suddenly shoots up and I am in jitters. First it said 27 min to finish and now its saying 32 min to finish. So I start pedalling faster and my heart rate again shoots up. So maintaining a balance is very important. Then I see that I can reduce the time or burn more calories by increasing the resistance on my pedals. So I reduce the speed and subsequently my heart rate drops, then I increase the resistance. So now, my time is evend out, with more calories burning. As soon as I get happy about it, my legs start hurting due to more resistance. Oh ! Oh! Whats going on? So again I reduce the resistance and come to my original self. And pedal and pedal, to reach the goal. At the end of burning 500 calories, it says "Goal Achieved." and gives a one line summary " Avg Heart rate 134. Max heart rate 151. 50:17 min in zone 106-151. " And I am elated, because, thats what I wished for.
So to cut a long story short- what did that ellipitical teach me today? Life's worthwhile setting a goal for. And working your way towards it. In it you' ll have variable factors like your friends, family, work. But when you know what you want to achieve, you'll need to juggle with all these. Sometimes you'll win on some, sometimes you'll loose on some. But the name of the game is to keep moving ahead. And the culmination, the summary should bring smile to your face. Because whatevere you did back there, was against the resistance, overcoming odds and getting hurt a little bit.

Kahat Kabira..

Recently, have been influnced by two dohas of Kabir:
1) Are you looking for me?
I am in the next seat.My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in the stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms,
Nor in synagogues, nor in cathedralsNot in Masses, nor Kirtans, not in legs winding around your own neck,nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly —You will find me in the tiniest house of
time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.

2) What had death and a thick body dances before what has no thick body and no death.
The trumpet says: 'I am you.'
The spiritual master arrives and bows down to the beginning student.
Try to live to see this!"
P.S ( I am searching for orginal lines. If you have please post the link as a comment.)
Nothing anyone writes can be as pure and authentic and true as Kabir.

Moments with God...

Too many questions now; Take a moment to think and answer them.
1) Have, you have felt someone's with you but couldnt actually make out whose that?
2) Have you caught yourself staring at a distant object with a blank mind?
3) Hve you seen a flower and experienced peace like never before?
4) Have you closed your eyes and felt a different kind of current in the Air?
5) Have your ever hugged someone and cried, not because of sadness or dismay, but because of the sheer vibe between you and the person?
If answer to any one of the above question is Yes, then you are those lucky ones who have had the chance to share the Moments with thy greatness: GOD.
Osho says, God is not a person, God is a vibe.
Have you attuned to that vibe yet?

Stained Shirt

My shirt got stained one day. And I was wearing it like that only. Someone asked me “Buddy, why don’t you wash that?"
I said, "I don't want to.”
He sneered, shrugged and left. What would he know?
The stains were made while my grandma was feeding lovingly with her hands; trembling hands.

Microsoft Bids for Yahoo!

Three big names are present, right here, right now. Microsoft, Yahoo! and Google. Where can we experience a greater example of Tom Friedman's "The World is Flat."
The Redmond based Hercules, targets Sunnyvale based Goliath to take head-on the Mountain View based behemoth.
And whats in the offing?$ 44 Billion. Phew!
If this deal goes through, its all set to change the technology landscape as Internet will never be the same again. Google is of the same opinion and has started foot slogging for it. Basically, the biggest motive is to rake moollah out of the estimated $40 billion internet ad industry where Google has the largest market share (37%) which is more than that combined of Microsoft and Yahoo! As for Yahoo!, it's all in the strategy. Though they will prefer partnering with Google, but monetarily Microsoft is the better choice.
Now its a wait and watch time for us as to how Microsoft will integrate and leverage Yahoo!'s acquisition, provided they pull it off. But I sincerely do hope my email id will not look like this :
adwait@hotyahoomail.com.

Tounge in cheek, is'nt it?

"God Bless you Bhaiyya"

Brigade Road in Bangalore is one of the famous shopping streets in the country. Standalone boutiques of brand factories attract you like anything. They have Adidas, Levis, Gas, Dockers, Puma and loads of other stuff that empty your pockets,your hard earned money and leave you wanting for more.
And over there that day, I found innocence on that street. Innocence. 2.5 feet tall. Holding roses in their hands. Asking for someone to buy them. Pleading may be the right word. Then they found a new customer: me. 3 little, sweet girls, flocked me and started pleading to buy the roses they were carrying.
I didnt know what to do. They wouldnt let me walk. I was caught off guard, and couldnt do anything, but to ask them the price.Here is how our conversation went by:
(For all practical purposes, I will call them Cute1, 2 and 3. )

Cute1: Bhaiyya, please buy the roses na. Please bhaiyya. Please bhaiyya. They are only for 10 bucks.
Me: Ok. Ok. Give me 3 roses. (I take my wallet out)
Cute1: Bhaiyya please buy 10 roses bhaiyya. I will be very happy. Please bhaiyya. Buy 10 roses na.
Me: What will do buying those 10 roses?
Cute1: You can keep it in the church bhaiyya. Please buy 10 roses.
Me: Ok, Ok, give me 10 roses. (I take a 100 Re. note out and give it to her.)
Cute2: Bhaiyya, please buy my 10 roses to bhaiyya. Please buy my 10 roses too.
Me: No, No. Please let me go, I dont have time.
Cute2 & Cute 3: No Bahiyya, you have to buy the roses. 10 her and 10 mine. Please bhaiyya.

I could see the twinkle in their eye with a shade of fear. Questions came and went. Like a gusto wind. What will happen if they wont sell all the roses today? Will they get a bashing from someone living of them? Or will they sleep empty stomach as they usually do? Will they be hurt by someone more powerful yet immature?

Me: Ok. Ok. One by one. Please wrap all the roses in one cardboard and give it to me. And make sure you dont crush them. ( I take out my wallet again and hand over 200 bucks to them.)
Cute 1 & Cute 2 & Cute 3: Thank you bhaiyya. Thank you bhaiyya. God bless you bhaiyya.

That was one of the purest form of blessings i have ever got.

I saw the happiness in their eyes and suddenly i felt at peace. A different kind of contenment ran through the body.
You know the cost of making a difference? Well for me, it was just 300 Rs. What is it for you?