Imbalance in Seasons

Another week of cold weather is here. Right as the spring was about to end we had winter starting. Sounds absurd, isn’t it? But it is true. The mercury dipped close to freezing point and some cities are braced to receive record Snow for the season; which had been a mostly a snow deprived winter. But for a snow storm that had hit earlier in the winter. Actually that snow storm came somewhat before fall in October last year.  Surely the seasons are out of balance. May be the nature is trying to mimic us, the “developed” the scientifically supreme human beings of 21^st century.

The new gadgets have made our work place so much more efficient so the work that used to take days in the past is done in hours or even minutes. That should free up our time; ideally that is the logical conclusion. However; we define our logic; so that should not free up the time; rather that should ensure that we accomplish many times more work in a day, every day (and even nights and weekends). We boast to our friends about our demanding jobs that don’t even give us time to spend with our families. In fact we want that to be glorified because that is in fashion.  In short we are confused, disillusioned about ourselves and above all an out of balance generation of people. And we define that as the right way to live.

I think I did get carried away and started writing off topic, the topic was weather imbalance. So nature is giving us back what we have been glorifying for last many years in our ways; “Imbalance” Not only that we have been teaching the whole art of imbalance to the nature by forcing our ways to it and depleting it every day with our way of life. Unfortunately many people are not ready to take any ownership of this and claim global warming as hoax. But it is a fact; the weather patterns are changing as due to the impact urbanization/industrialization/ Modernization is having on the nature.

Don’t take me wrong; I am not against any of the growth; I am against the blind race that is leading to uncontrolled damage to nature. This is irresponsible and insane and at the same time, it is not growth, it is damage. Remember that hen who laid golden eggs. Don’t you think it was unwise of the farmer to kill the hen in order to get all the eggs and be rich instantly? And well we all remember what the farmer got in the end. And what we are doing is even worse than that; somewhat like burning our own house piece by piece in order to use that fire to stay warm. Soon there will be no roof on our heads and no walls to save us from the wind. And no wood to burn too as we would have burnt the whole house down.

Honestly I think of this and feel helpless, usually something like “what can I do?” But isn’t that thinking wrong? If none of us do anything; nothing will get done. However if even a small percentage of the world population decides to take one small step towards restoring things; the cumulative effect can be huge. Remember if 20% of the world’s 7 Billion people walk just one step then a cumulative distance of more than a quarter million miles is covered. So it is worth the effort. Before I state my pledge let me point to some of the news that scream that an immediate action is needed.  (you may know all of this already, but if you didn’t then Google the items below and see details)

·         Alaskan Snowicane : The snow storm that hit Alaska this winter season at a hurricane speed. The reason for it not slowing down before hitting the land was reduced ice level in sea that typically has cooled similar systems in the past

·         Man-made Earthquakes: There have been reports of Earthquakes that are alleged to be linked to drilling for oil and fracking.

·         Snowtober :  Unusual snow storm in part of North East US in the month of October, 2011  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/11/snowtober-fits-climate-change-predictions.html. Similar storm in April 2012 (Snowpril)

·         Himalayan Glaciers Melting:  “Everest and Himalayan Glaciers Could Vanish By 2035, Imperiling a Billion People”

·         Extreme Tornado activity: There has been no scientifically proven  (accepted) link between Global warming and Tornadoes; however any weather phenomenon or storm is nature’s way to restore balance and with the extreme climatic variations these days when you see so many tornado outbreaks, there might be link somewhere yet to be proven scientifically

There are these and a lot of other such news every day. I don’t believe that the World will end soon. But I certainly believe that if we don’t take some deliberate steps towards improving the situation then we will be leaving a very difficult world for our children to live in. And honestly my two little sons are too cute to be subject to such hardships. So for my precious kids, my nephews and nieces and for all the other blessings that come to the world as little children I will à

·         Recycle whatever I can

·         Reuse any paper/ plastic etc that can be reused

·         Do not waste a resource (electricity, gas, water etc)

·         Plant trees (near my house, community, participate in tree plantations)

·         Educate my kids on the beauty of nature and the need to restore it

·         Go back to nature on my living (to connect to nature again and realize that the hen will give golden egg everyday if it is treated right)

·         Reduce my reliance on gadgets / Appliances

·         Think more ways to give back to nature. Read/learn better ways to give back

The rewards can be huge, even in the short term I can see how much fun some of the above activities/ practices will be when I do them with my family. Snowtober and Snowpril are nothing but some gentle nudge from nature to say that it is time to understand and mend the ways. Because in this game if nature starts playing against the rules (as we have been doing for years) then we will be the one loosing it greatly. As nature will always bring things to balance even if it has to annihilate a few spices that don’t play by the rules; and we know who is being nature’s bad kid in modern days.

दो रूप

                               निखिल डोगरा

सोचता हु जब भी तुम मुझ से मिलो

तो मैं दिखूं जैसे,
ओस की बूंद सी ताज़गी लिए हुए
उगते सूरज की गुनगुनी रौशनी लिए हुए
पंछियों की चहक, फूलों सी महक
और भोर की हवा सी ठंडक भी लिए हुए

 

डरता हू कंही तुम मुझे उस समय न देख लो
जब मै अमावस चाँद सा खुद में ही हू घुल रहा
आधी रात काले चोर सा, अपनी ही आँखों से छुप रहा
कुंठित, घ्रणित शराबी सा खुद पे ही लज्जित हो रहा 
वोह जो मुझ से हो गया, या मुझ पे थोपा गया 
उस सारे पाप का भार, झुके कन्धों पे धो रहा

इक दर्पण में यह दो स्वरुप,
प्रतिबिम्ब यह दो, दोनों ही मेरे
छांट कर बाँट सका हू मैं जिन्हें
मुझ में ही समाये मेरे उजाले और अँधेरे
हो तुम ही वो एक प्रयोजन
की मैं स्वयं से श्रेष्ठ बनने चला हू
और उठ सकता हू हर आत्म्संदेह से जो कही मुझे घेरे

Space Shuttle Discovery Fly Over VA

I dont know if this really qualifies as a historic moment as many suggest; but most certainly it was a very rare moment and a very exciting one too...Sharing some pictures that I took from the top level of my office Parking Garage

Re-Made but Feels Fresh

“Why can’t you eat the whole thing, why do you have to pick the marsh mellows only? Try the rest of the cereal as well and it is all very delicious.” My wife was telling our 5 year old son; who had been busy picking the colorful mash-mellow bits from his ‘lucky-charms’ cereal bowl.  “I know, but they are the best, try this Ma!” he replied extending his hand towards her mouth, with one white and orange colored bit in it.

They were sitting outside the main door of our house, while I was watering the plants nearby. I was watching this and it was almost a Déjà vu moment for me.

I am the 5 year old sitting on the front porch of our house many years ago, with a bowl of a savory treat (somewhat similar to Haldiram’s khatta-meetha) in my hands, the yellow gram flour crispy noodles, fried black lentils and other things all mixed up with a salty -tangy seasoning and my small clumsy hands; picking the roasted peanuts from the mix with almost clinical precision. And my mom had said exactly the same words to me then as my wife had said to our son a few minutes ago. And my hand rose towards my mom’s mouth carrying a peanut in it “try this Ma!”

“Let it be, let him eat what he wants, we can finish the remaining stuff later; if needed,” I told my wife; and I could hear my dad’s words from many years ago just leaving my tongue.

Now as I and my wife were smiling at this; after many years I understood why my Mom and Dad had exchanged a look and smiled at that moment. They have been kids once , so the same moment has been lived in the past and would repeat in the future too. Same script, similar locations, same characters but always different actors. And forever the scene stays fresh.

Note: “I am in that role now Ma and Papa hope I am able to perform as good”

SAY CHEESE !!!!!

Life is a wonderful journey. A new adventure begins every moment. At times we are so bothered about meeting the ends that we miss the beauty that unfolds in the moments.

Right in the middle of a very busy work month I have been feeling extremely exhausted and somewhat hopeless about things around. It has been office work for 70 hours every week and things to be taken care of at home.    The bigger challenge I face is the feel of guilt on not have enough time spent with kids towards their growth, their play, their learning or anything that they like doing with me. At times I end up getting irritated at the things and complain about the kids being too noisy or too picky or not listening etc. It all appears a spiral maze with no way out.

Since I said “Kids”, so let me introduce my boys. A five and a half years old “big brother” and a 20 Months old “kid brother.” Both of them are very adorable with their angelic faces and mischievous eyes. Needless to say I love them, who wouldn’t? Still with the stress I get annoyed with them.

This weekend had been no different. Friday evening and Saturday whole day went running one errand after the other; attempting to balance work, home, kids and everything else.  Now comes Sunday; frustrating to think that weekend is almost over. We are going out to buy groceries. The list is on the whiteboard in the kitchen. As a habit I will click a picture of the list with my phone camera to carry that with me. I looked for my phone; and then I saw my sons struggling over the possession of the phone to play. And I was annoyed seeing this. The whole stress of the weekend got concentrated in that one moment. “But; I will not scream at them.” I thought and grabbed my phone from their struggling hands, giving an icy look to them. Then slowly walked to the white board and switched the camera on. Still angry, controlling myself and still about to lose my cool, I raised camera to click the picture and then there were 2 pairs of small hands each one hugging my either legs and the little one gurgled,     “Chey Cheeejjj ” (Say Cheese) in his semi-legible speech. Being blessed by two little angels melted all the stress away.

All three of us laughed. I laughed because I was touched by angels, “Big Brother” laughed because the little one sounded really cute and funny and the “kid brother” laughed because everyone else was laughing. I knelt down and hugged them back.

Few hours later we returned from grocery shopping; tired and not too happy about more errands to run. I looked at my two sons; both wanted the TV remote; older one to play his favorite channel and the younger one for no apparent reason except the fact that big brother wants it so it must be a good to have thing. I looked at them and unlike the usual upset at witnessing such a thing; I picked my Phone; smiled and said loud the words that have been cleansing my soul for last many hours “SAY CHEESE!”

Absolutely Clueless

“The World is so unjust and where has all the decency gone.” I heard her say; she must have been in her fifties. Immaculately dressed lady in a group of 5 women; all of them in the same age group. She had been my co-passenger on a recent flight from Florida to Washington DC. Now standing in the “re-booking” line for United and saying these words.

“I am surprised that they missed the flight” another co-passenger commented with a chuckle. We all in the flight knew that they will.

Flash back to 30 minutes ago. The flight landed at the airport later than scheduled. There must have been more than 150 passengers in the cabin as the flight was full. As it touched down the air hostess announced that people with no connections to remain seated and let the passengers with connections deplane first to make sure that no one misses a connection.  Most of the people in the flight followed these instructions and stay seated.

I was on the absolute last seat of the flight so I could see this whole story unfold. A few minutes passed with most of the people left the plane only last 7-8 rows left. People with connections; as everybody thought; had left the plane earlier and only then rest of the passengers had started leaving. Now with final few passengers left; this group of ladies who had been sitting all the time got up and our lady in the lead said, “I can’t believe that no one gave us way; what is wrong with the people?.” I looked at them with disbelief (and I was not the only one doing that; everyone left in the plane joined me in that) They didn’t even stand up earlier for anyone to know that they may have a connection and now they were just a few minutes away from catching their next flight. Getting angry and voicing opinions about the unjust world and disrespectful people they got off the plane. And our lady in the lead made sure that she complains to the plane crew in detail about that before anyone on their group could leave.  Everyone in the plane knew, that very moment that they will miss the flight

Flash forward t; the group is grumbling to everyone about the unjust they have been subjected to. And anyone who had witnessed this whole episode some time back in the plane had just one question in their mind, “if they had a plane to catch why didn’t they stand up in the first place while other passengers with connecting flight plans where leaving. May be they assumed that people will know. But How?” I know this appears stupid, why would anyone assume something like this?

It has been almost a whole day and I am thinking; were they really being stupid? Don’t we all do this everyday? Not saying things to our family, Coworkers, supervisors, subordinates, store clerks and so on and always assuming that they will figure out what we need. And also we mostly get annoyed at them for not being able to understand. I have done that often. Am I being stupid? I don’t know the answer but I know those 5 ladies were there, in that flight for a purpose. And that purpose is served.

तुम उड़ने की आस न छोड़ो (Tum Udne ki aas na choro)

तुम उड़ने की आस न छोड़ो 

                                                                निखिल डोगरा 

पंख भी उगेंगे इन कन्धों पे 

तुम उड़ने की आस न छोड़ो

जब तक वो सच ना हो जाएँ 

तब तक उनको थामे रहना 

होते है नाज़ुक बड़े सपने 

तुम सपनो का हाथ ना छोड़ो 

डरने वाले को और डराओ 

रीत यही चली दुनिया की 

लाख डराना चाहे कोई 

तुम हिम्मत का साथ ना छोड़ो 

तुम खुद के मालिक हो खुद ही 

या फिर वो मालिक है जो सब का 

अपनी मेह्नत पे रखो भरोसा

तुम किस्मत पे बात ना छोड़ो 

छूना चाहो जब भी नभ को 

भले लगो तब पागल जग को 

बाहें फैलाओ आँखे मूंदो

और अपना विश्वास न छोड़ो

पंख भी उगेंगे इन कन्धों पे 

तुम उड़ने की आस ना छोड़ो