Dreams

A word, which can take a wide spectrum of meanings ranging from the literal to psychological to philosophical…
Building up castles in the air is one of the easiest & free of cost ways of giving oneself a high…!
I’ll talk about the ones that are conjured up by my ‘never at rest’ & ‘always up to something’ mind, anytime I let my eyes rest and the sub-conscious takes over… for the best or worst, I remember them when I wake up… so much so that I still very distinctly remember a dream I saw a decade ago…!

In the recent times, I’ve dreamt about things I really wish could or would happen… one of my deepest unfulfilled desire has been of staying in hostel so that’s what I dreamt about a few days back… and a few more things which stay on my mind…

But a few times, they have shown me certain aspects which I know exist but due to certain reasons, I don’t let myself acknowledge and keep them hidden somewhere… they seem to have a strange way of resurfacing and catching me completely off my guard…

At times, when I sleep for long hours, I become part of a number seemingly unrelated dreams threaded & linked with each other in a bizarre fashion… and these are the ones that repeat themselves once in a while…!

But the weirdest thing happens when I find myself unable to distinguish between dreams and reality…
In the past I’ve found myself in situations which I know haven’t occurred, but I could also bet my life upon it that they have… I can still recollect this incident when I went to a friend’s place for the first time… I was coming down the stairs with her and all of a sudden I knew I had been on these stairs before… I could visualize everything in the room I was about to enter to every detail… I knew what people around me were about to say & the likes… though it lasted for a mere 4-5 minutes, but I was certain it was a replay… when I put my mind to it, I recollected having lived these moments in one of my dreams a few days before the incident…
I saw a glimpse of the time to come in my dream…? I dreamt of the future…? I don’t know…

Has our fast paced lifestyle sapped the appreciation of nature…?

Wish to spend a holiday in African jungles, or want to explore the underwater world, or the outer space… but think it’s impossible…?  Think Again…

Wake up early in the morning, land up in office asap, work relentlessly all day long & halfway into the night, reach home & crash land into bed to wake up early again and follow the same routine monotonously…
Sounds like your daily drill…? Welcome to the club of people living in the fast lanes of the highway…
This is how most of us spend major part of our lives trying to earn a living, make ends meet & live our lives somewhere in between. One thing we always look forward to is vacations when we can explore the unexplored.

Everyone works hard round the clock these days. Those who earn decently & are able to save after making ends meet can afford the luxury of going on extravagant trips. But for everyone, a vacation is like a much-awaited weekend after a week’s toil. Since this break is earned after unending sleepless nights, everyone wants to make the most of it while it lasts. In order to do so, people move to places that are bountiful with natural beauty. We are able to enjoy nature’s treasures fervently in the duration of the holiday.

We need not always take a break from our routine life to be close to nature & appreciate it. We can make this appreciation a part of our lifestyle. We can admire the sunrise from the cozy confines of our homes; rediscover the enchanting beauty of plants & flowers by planting them all around us. Though not really possible in always awake cities, but whenever possible, sleep under the moonlit star-studded sky... when it rains in the midst of a day, we can surely snatch a minute & tune ourselves to the rhythm of the rain...
Nature can never be far away from us unless we take a determined pledge to drive it to the end of our respective personalized worlds.

Our work gives us the power to be financially capable of traveling to all those places, where we can unravel the bewitching beauty of nature & treat ourselves to an exhilarating experience. We can forget the stress involved in our lives, soothe the nerves & rejuvenate our spirits.

This technology driven world innovates ways which give us a newfound freedom to explore the treasures of our planet. We can make ourselves aware of the underwater flora & fauna; scale the highest peaks; be a bird through paragliding; experience the real force of gravity during bungee jumping; brave ourselves up against the crushing waves during river-rafting; a possibility in near future - visit the milky way galaxy…! There’s an entire plethora of other things as well… Technology makes all these more accessible, with an additional protective shield which makes all these experiences invigorating & safer than ever before, thus making them highly impressionable and memorable.

Price hike...finally !

Finally, after prolonged procrastination, the oil prices have been increased… substantially in a stroke…
It was bound to happen… should’ve been done a little earlier… the sudden burden is huge… the prices could’ve been increased gradually maybe 50paise or 1 buck in stages…
But the government would’ve received flak from people for hiking prices ever so often…
The affliction would’ve been measured… but the psychological factor would’ve outweighed it… also the oil-companies would’ve lost a little lesser…

At present, the global prices are nearing $70 per barrel… add to it the overhead expenses (surcharges) and we know why the companies are bleeding so bad… the till date stable prices tell the story of how the most profitable PSUs crossed over to being the loss-makers…
Every oil company had been hauling for a price hike… the people were being given stats and figures of the losses being incurred everyday… the government, being heavily dependent on sales tax & customs duty earned from the related industry, made it clear it cant subsidise any further…
So basically, the price hike had always been inevitable… just that people were given enough time and data to figure it out themselves and accept it…

The Left and BJP are not being just with their demand of a roll-back… unfortunately, its not feasible and everyone’s aware of it…

But one thing is for sure… things need to change… the government needs to lower its reliance on the hydrocarbons industry, specifically oil industry… it needs to improve the public transportation system and encourage its use… it needs to give incentives for developing and using alternate fuels…

To let go at what point...

Kids in this country are extremely protected. It’s next to impossible for parents to let go esp. if the mother is a homemaker and has devoted her entire life to the up bringing of her kids. Her whole life revolves around her house & kids…
During the early stages of a child’s life, it’s a blessing to have such a mom. But as the years fly by and the child becomes his own person, that’s when things start to change… the kid starts moving out of the house for a certain duration each day, which just keeps extending invariably to a phase when the child doesn’t come home one day as he’s putting up at a friend’s place maybe…
Gradually the adolescent’s dependence on parents may get restricted to financial support and crisis management…! At this point he also has to understand his responsibilities towards his parents and family (within his capacity).
Then comes a stage when he has to leave for days or months together… either to pursue studies or for a job. The first time is the most difficult.
If the adolescent has gone to pursue studies after school, that’s when the dilemma arises… he thinks he’s not a kid anymore and can take care of himself, and the parents voice their concerns as they know that he’s still not worldly-wise…
The parents are anxious of letting the kids make mistakes in life… they are the best
well-wishers, who can endure anything, except their kids getting hurt…
But to fall and then to stand up again is how the human race has evolved from time-immemorial…
It might be the most daunting task for them, but parents will have to let go after a certain point (deciding this point is the most disputable of all)… though they’ll always be indispensable, but they need not be accessible to the kid all the time, which he will have to get accustomed to as well…
The parents have to learn to stop losing sleep over the kids 24/7, day in and day out… they have to let kids make mistakes and learn from them… they have to let them make their own choices and teach them to take responsibility for all their decisions and the consequences…
The parents should have a life of their own… helps to fill in the void that’s created when kids take their own course…

P.S: This comes from the drama unfolding in my house regarding my brother who has just entered his college life…

the way things are...

When I was a kid I had a notion: USA was the friend everyone desires to have… the friend who will bail you out from all troubles…
But looking at the world in totality now has thrown up nothing but contradictions to my notions.
USA only furthers its interests, by hook or by crook.
It’ll sweep all it’s doing under the carpet that it doesn’t want the world to know…
It is capable of changing its stand as and when required even if that means turning against it’s own allies.

The present global scenario strengthens this viewpoint of mine…
USA woke up to global terrorism post 9/11… though India has be encountering it for almost half a century, but USA refused to accept it as Pakistan is its ally… and basically because it didn’t have to feel the heat…

Taking the more recent events into consideration… everyone is now aware that Iraq had no WMDs but sure is a country blossoming with oil wells… Yes, under Saddam Hussein’s regime people did suffer atrocities… he was a terrorist to the core and he needed to perish… but what about the sufferings of civilians now…? They aren’t any better than they were before…
The government being set up is a dummy… the Big Bully, BB (read USA) will not let go… either of the country or of its oil reserves…

Next comes Iran…
It’s a country trying to prosper but is not being allowed to do so just because BB has apprehensions…! Iran is following all the norms and treaties it signed for… but on the basis of suspicion, it is not being permitted its right to freedom and well-being…
The exhausting supplies of petrol is a fact glaring in our face… everyone needs to look for substitutes and reduce dependence on petrol… hence, though dangerous, yet most promising alternative for civilian use is of nuclear power… agreed that Iran is not exactly stable or safe to be trusted with such technology, but it cant be completely deprived of it as well… but BB (who cant really be trusted after the Iraq debacle) is doing just that…
BB is also trying to keep other countries as far away from Iran as possible…
The Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline has witnessed objections from BB on the pretext of sanctions, which have been levied on Iran. But it can easily seen that BB is not in favor of development of strong, mutual and cordial relations between East Asian countries… this will lead to stability in this region enhancing prosperity as well… BB will no longer be able to exert control over Iran and hence suffer losses due to disruption in its monopoly over Iran’s natural resources…
Also, if this region transforms into a developed one, BB wont be able to experience its present status of a Super Power… it has been facing stiff competition from China and Japan for a while… India will also join those ranks soon… a step towards which is the finalization of the deal between India & Iran on the pipeline, inspite of objections…

To be continued…