Demon O'clock!

They say an empty mind's a demon's home! That we move far away from a pristine condition, when the mind empty! Its seems funny to me how we believe, almost blindly any thought, any quote put forward by some Mr. Anonymous who's presence doesn't even matter in our own milieu. 

This I would say is our "Devil's home" playing with our conscience. It happens to us many times that we immediately connect some quote to our lives. Isn't it magical? Although I am shocked at the veracity of our minds to term this connectivity as "A devil act" !

Does it mean we believe that there is a devil somewhere inside us? 

And if we believe so, why do we embrace it so willingly?

Let me forewarn you before you start cooking some "Devil" thought in your mind which is indeed as immaculate as a wedding cake! There is no such thing as DEVIL . Its just the absence of Good! As a famous saying goes, "Dark is just the absence of light", similarly, "Devil is just the absence of good". Isn't it that simple! Then why do we complicate it so much? 

It is just that we are comfortable of handling the devil because the good is too heavy to bear! Why can't an empty mind be a new thought's home? What say? Why don't we embrace a new thought the denizen of our mythical "empty mind".

And what is this empty mind? Is it a mind just void of any thought? Or it is a bountiful mind which accumulates the synergy created by calmness and stability of thought? The latter sounds more positive, but it's hard to digest, isn't it? Our habit of associating the empty with the devil has to be modified. It is this obnoxious approach of ours towards the calm, the charismatic, the stable and the divine; which is forcing us to opt for the simpler option. 

Today we stand at the midnight hour of demon o'clock. It is in our hands only to decide the speed, veracity and necessity of the ticking of this clock. We have to pledge to be the pioneers of change of not only time but also the clock...measuring it, evaluating it from time to time. 

Calmness and divinity are not laws which can be practiced only in a perfectly serene external environment! Instead calmness and divinity are the principles of life which can be bent and mended according to our needs. Let us cherish these principles in every act of our daily life. 

Let us not be afraid. Because, "WHERE FEAR ENDS, LIFE...STARTS! 

Oh! Look at the time! It must be divine o'clock! 


Bis dann, till then,
Atharva

Being the HABIT

It is often said that to control a temptation, you need to face it. And in every individual on this planet, there is one or the other temptation which one wants to control or even get rid off.

In this rat race of shrugging off one's most desired and nurtured temptations, there is a strong probability that the temptation will become your habit. A day to day thing which you feel, smell, taste and touch everyday. 

In the wild mix of emotions that we go through everyday, we often miss out on some instances or goosebumps which stand out so much, that they deserve to be recorded in diaries and in minds. These missed moments are worthy of being important milestones in one's life. 

One such nagging temptation which can be caught in these "moments" is the temptation of being a habit for someone. Throughout our lifetime we meet and greet thousands of people. Men & Women come and go by. But there are certain individuals that get penned down in our "most favourite persons" list. These individuals are nothing but...our habits, oftenly quoted as "loved ones".

These interesting habits are just as any other habit - good or bad! They stretch our minds, test our patience and continuosly challenge our perseverance. Living with these habits is simple but there is indeed one small problem with these habits as there always is with every habit. The problem is that each of our habit expects us to keep up with it in its own speed. Every habit of ours has a different speed - be it speed of action, reaction or boding - it is never the same. Our challenge is to adjust ourselves according to these habits. 

But there is one simple solution which I have recently found out. It is just reciprocating the effect that these habits have on you. Newton explains it as: 

"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." 

And in these wise words of this wise man lies the simple solution. If you want to keep up with these several habits of yours, 

you have to be a habit yourself! Its not a quick solution but a long process. Because once you become someone's habit there is hardly any chance of backing off! There are no fallback options on this single solution. 

As someone has wisely said, "Having a new habit is as difficult as getting rid of an old one." 

Go ahead and BE THE HABIT !

Bis dann, till then,

Atharva 

All of the same breed!

"Be the change you want to see in the world", these were Gandhiji's words. 
And after years of timeless effort and perseverance India won her independence on these lines. Such great words can come only from great men and women like Gandhiji, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Rousseau! These were the people of our own breed, who inspired the world at their time, in their own way. They not only created nations, but they also left some footprints for us to follow. The question is, are we going on the path given by them? Are we the next Gandhi, the next Mother Teresa? Are we the next Nelson Mandela? Or are we just "some other human who has turned ON his SILENT mode". 

Look around you! Our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, friends and neighbours are being killed, harrased, irritated all around the world. There is an eye for an eye policy almost everywhere! And governments all around the world are spending millions of currency on technology which helps not to construct faith and build relations, but destruct them! But have you ever thought that why are these government officials, our leaders pushed into this circle of humanity's death? It is because of the silence of almost every individual alive on mother earth. When will this end? 

All this bloodshed will end, when we - the citizens of the world - decide to end it. It will end when an eye for an eye will be replaced by a voice for a voice. We suffer from so many social problems, but we never raise a voice! There are 7 billion people in this small world. But never can I hear one single voice. All I hear is 7 billion different voices. In such a case, how can I know whom to look up to and whom to ignore; how can I know who is with me and who is not; how can I know who is my friend and who is not? When will I hear a voice of 7 billion people, and when will these 7 billion decide TOGETHER to stop this killing, harassing and irritating & when will human love human on this planet?

I carve for a solution today! While a voice, somewhere inside me says...you start and others will follow. Having no option but to listen to this peaceful voice inside me; I raise a voice today - to stop treating humans as targets, to stop treating them as deals - to start treating humans as humans. 

After all, aren't we of the same breed? 

Bis dann, till then,
Atharva

Foolishness inherited!

While I roam in family functions or get-togethers, especially during festivals and other important occassions, I get struck by unexpected formalities and rituals. Though I do get that the immense feeling of the earlier generations in their arduous urge to pass on these rituals, these formalities to their next generation; what I fail to understand is the Gen Y's ignorance to this urge. 

Our parents, grandparents are the proud carriers of our culture and traditions. I'm stuck with the fact that why does the next generation never try to go into these "age old" rituals and find out the reason of the birth of our great culture. 

Our ancestors were definitely not lunatics to start these traditions as an integral part of our culture. Maybe the way they marketed them i.e. under the name of the "Almighty" , is creating current the stir of ignorance towards them. Have you ever asked to your elders the reason behind these mindboggling traditions? The question lies there...Have you ever? Isn't it too foolish of us to ignore our cultural traditions on which we have literally grown up?With Independence Day kicking in this week, I beg of you to use your freedom of expression and ASK! 

Why I am so deliberately asking you to ask? The reason being I, myself found very interesting explainations about our ancestral culture when I asked! I ensure you that the replies that you will get are shockingly LOGICAL, BRAINY, and THOUGHTFUL. 

On Independence Day, we often remember the earlier generations and show respect to the deeds they did for our freedom. Let's celebrate this year's 15th August by respecting and bowing down to the culture they imbued and salute their cohesive marketing skills! 
Stop the foolishness and inherit the Wisdom! 

Happy Independence Day, in advance! 

Bis dann, till then,
Atharva

A note of appreciation!

It has been quite a few months since I started blogging. In this interesting process, I learnt a lot of things. One of them was observing, every aspect, every element, every person and every situation around myself closely.

And through this new kind of observation technique, there is one very interesting and positive fact that has struck me. Many of my friends or acquaintances have suddenly turned to professional photography, mainly clicking the variety of birds and animals in our surroundings. While these bird-lovers and their interests are often dubbed "boring", I think we owe them a note of appreciation.

What I see is immense knowledge my bird-lover friends have about the living beings they click!
Not only do I respect the knowledge but also the fact that they are just "into it"!

I, myself am not much interested in my friends' unique passion. But even so, I learn a very important aspect from them. They preach me, they teach me to literally
"CO-EXIST"!
A question sprungs my curiosity....Do we really co-exist?

Kudos to thier willingness to co-exist! And cheers to these flocking "bird-lovers"!

Bis dann, till then,
Atharva

STOP that Fire Brigade!

Many a times in one day itself we try to show different sides of our personality in front of different people. Often then, we show the urge to alter our personalities, our expressions, our thoughts according to the person and the situation around. In this alteration process frequently dubbed as "Social Sense" we tend to forget that we are leaving behind our "Inner Self". 

Speaking of this inner self, it is the most unique element present in every individual alive. This is the factor that makes every person different from the other. Simply saying, it is the SPICE in our lives. This spice isn't inborn in anyone. It comes into you because of your interesting and unique experiences, your relations with your friends, with your family and with the society. This spice in you...creates you, in real sense. 

In the world of "Socially Sensible people", retaining this spice element in oneself is the real, hardcore challenge! Social or behaviour psychologists say that this "Spice" often makes us vulnerable to unpredicted situations and in turn leads us to follow our sub-conscious mind. But isn't it fun doing something and not knowing what the result may turn out? Why to restrict ourselves to this social net, why not be free; when we have a choice?

And today, on the occasion of Friendship Day, I make a gentle request to anyone and everyone who is reading this post. Always remember that your friends, your companions, your soul-mates are connected to you not because of your social behavior or your success rate (professionally or personally). They are connected to you by a single strong string called "Spice". STOP that fire brigade in you...Awaken the spice. 

Bis Dann, till then,

Atharva

It's important, it's about you!

"We need to talk. IT'S IMPORTANT, ITS ABOUT YOU." These are the words that have struck me like lightning from the sky, in recent times. Often, our friends need to speak to us about many different things, but rarely it happens that they invite us for a discussion about ourselves. This indeed gave me the coldest of a shiver. 

In such incidents, many a times we tend to think, "What did I do wrong?", or at least I do, certainly. And as we are infused with an art called as defence mechanism or self-policing, we instantly rule ourselves out of the problematic equation!

While handling such situations certainly got the best of my Achilles heel, they certainly preached me to dive in the sea, in spite of however the wave is. What has caught my realisation is that our friends always consider us as the most priceless assets. And there is no need at all that we need get on our nerves when they say, "It's important, it's about you." Instead we should be always ready to meet and greet them as well as give them a very patient ear.  

So whenever your friends say to you "It's important, it's about you", shed all the fears and all the feelings in your cautious mind! Be free, & remember that these special people always do care. 

Bis dann, till then, 
Atharva 

The Selfie mode!

With a clicking device in almost every youngster's hand today, the selfie wave has truly hit the world. Though the old man's way of posing and clicking has sadly vanished, it's good that everyone now can capture their special moments in these amazing devices that we possess.
With the selfie kicking in, so has its addiction. I have seen people clicking selfies just while speaking with each other or while in a group. These selfies seem to have made us selfish!
Like selfie, there are several more trends gushing in everyday in the "Cellphone World"! Do we really have to be into these devices 24/7? Do we realise that we have a finite existence and do we really want to get stuck in this "net" for life? Its just an illusion friends which is distracting us so powerfully.
"With every device you open its the door you shut"
Today, this selfie device has become like an inner thief which robs us of our precious time.
Mobile phones afterall were invented to CONNECT,
not DISCONNECT!

Bis dann, till then,
Atharva

The Impatient citizen !

Just about hours before the grand swearing-in ceremony of Mr. Narendra Modi, as our new Prime Minister; all the news channels suddenly have brought experts from every field to predict each and everything about the new government. 

And the 125 crore Indian citizens including you and me have been kind of IMPATIENT about this new setting in Indian politics. People are expecting Mr. Modi and his party's new government to radically change each and everything, right from the broken tiles on their near by pavement upto the current condition of Indian economy, in a blink of an eye!

Don't we need to be patient with this government of "A new era"?

We must not forget that the term of every government is of 5 years. Don't be impatient! Give them some time to practically start with their policies. You have chosen this government to run the country, but don't be a mere spectator in its working. Participate in the development of the country and the world, by just doing your bit. 

Don't be impatient about the development plans yet to come from the new setting. Start from your side. 

Thinking how? As our new to-be Prime Minister says and I quote "Even after stopping before a red light and avoiding to litter the streets, every Indian should think that s/he is doing this for the development of our country." 

Be an impatient citizen about developing our Nation!
Wake up and Be The Change! 

Bis dann, till then,
Atharva

The 11:59 alarm !

You may know that owls can see only when it is dark. And hence they are awake at night. Many dogs are also awake during the dark due to a similar scientific reason. And to this list of OWLS and DOGS now belong humans! 

Our urge and desperation for hangouts with friends, for watching Youtube videos and films, for chatting with our partner, or for browsing the internet; all these get activated at the night time! Why so?!!

Nowadays there is another new trend of wishing people on their birthdays and anniversaries on the annoying time 12 Midnight! That's why we are so used to setting the 11:59 alarm. Generally on our birthdays we used to get up a little late than the usual. And just an hour of extra sleep would be like a great gift to us! Then inviting our friends for a nice party in the evening would be the cherry on the cake. 

But nowadays getting up late can be stated as an outdated concept! Because 80% of teenagers sleep at around 3 a.m. and get up at 12 Noon. I know that I have repeated this fact a few times in my earlier blogs, but it is of that importance! This schedule of most of the teenagers just annoys me. 

We are not designed to be NOCTURNAl ! Then why are we going down that lane? This is the only reason that our society lacks behind others. Because we just ignore the natural timetable. And we need to put a break to this now. 

Look upon the things we are missing! The morning dews, the fresh sunlight, the little cold air, the birds chirping, the silence! All this is the true essence of what we used to call "Mornings" ! 

It seems that the concept of Mornings is vanishing! All we have now are afternoons, evenings and nights! 

Wake up Teenagers!

Wake up EARLY! 

And enjoy the morning! :D 

Bis Dann, till then,

Atharva

I'm in a Relationship!

Many of you were startled by looking at the title, weren't you? Haha! Caught you there! Yes, I'm happy to officially announce that I'm in a relationship, a very deep one. And the most amusing fact is that so are all of you in a deep relationship. And guess with whom? Our most lovely asset in the world, "The inanimate, expensive, piece of technolgy on which you are maybe reading this article!" This one piece and the many others to which you all and me are equally TIED. 

Our relationship status is a very comprehensive term nowadays; what say? With practically hundreds of technology stuff companies entering the market. Now you can possess a techno-savvy device at the price you name it. 

An interesting facebook post says, "Today I see twelve year olds playing on Iphones and computers; when I was twelve I was eating mud!" So true that is. But can we call this an advancement of technology or in fact advancedment of human minds at such early age? Is it really, practically necessary that a twelve year old even feels the need to touch any piece of technology? Where are the days when we as twelve year olds would literally cry, because it was time to go home from the park. And don't you remember that we used to wait for the next evening so that we can meet all our friends in the park once again and have loads of fun with them. And now we are almost 18 year olds "online messenger" addict people, who are continuously in contact with their college friends, school friends, etc., through technology. But are we really in a deep, serious relationship with the HUMAN on the other side of the device or are we in love with the DEVICE itself. 
    
The question being, do we need to be virtually connected with our friends literally 24/7 ? Well I clearly think, we don't need to be connected always! 
"Too much silence can break a relation", they say. But what about the fact that a little silence, a little distance in a close relation, strengthens the bond between the the two persons. 

This overutilised connectivity flare is degrading not only one to one communication but also it is deteriorating our bodies, our minds phisically. Most of us sleep at 3 a.m. and wake up at 12 Noon. This is the ridiculous schedule that we teenagers; we ChangeMakers; we the future generation are stuck in. Don't you think you have the mere ability to disconnect yourself from your phone for some hours. The hours which are correctly meant to sleep. Like 10 to 6? Are you so fragile? Are you so disabled to control your own set of nerves? NO! You are not. It is just that you have forgotten that you have a body to take care of, and a mind to nurture; both of which need proper rest. 

But obviously, you can't cut off your relation with HUMANS! So how can you strengthen the bonds with living beings? 
Very simple. Get up from that couch, and get out of the house! Meet people, greet people, enjoy their company one to one. Use technology to connect with the ones you can't reach phisically! 

Your parents are providing you with this technology first hand! Feel lucky and use it wisely. 

Yes I'm in a relationship, 
with HUMANS.  

Bis dann, till then,
Atharva

The essence of lying!

Lying is like an asset possessed by humans from thousand's of years. If you are bored, you can lie. If you want to escape a situation, you can lie. If you want to get rid of somebody, you can lie. If you want to hide your real emotions, you can lie. 

   " Say the right thing at the right time, hide your real emotions, smile because you are obliged to, laugh because you have to impress, and cry because you have to show... do all this everyday, and the world will say that you have grown up! "

Is our case this worse? Is HYPOCRISY really the proof of being grown up? Can't we be an adult and still behave like a child? 

And yet again, back to lying! 

The question here is that ..is lying really necessary? It seems we care for child as well as adult emotions too much nowadays. Why is it so? Hundreds of research papers are published on child psychology. I read many of them, and sadly I noticed 50% of them deal with the fact "How to pamper a child!" Our parents were never pampered so much, at least not by teaching them how to be hypocritical or in fact how to lie?! Nowadays child grooming has been forced to go totally on a different track! True that! 

   Often I have seen people lying, so as to not hurt the fellow one. The most annoying is that people nowadays lie also to their friends and family members. Don't you think that our society is becoming "pseudo" (fake)? And why are we cherishing the atmosphere created by such a society? 

No one seems to be bothered. No one seems to be interested.

But wait! Maybe they are bothered, they are interested!...but guess what, they LIE! 

 "Think as Game changers and you will succeed", they say. But for that, first stop lying and start thinking! 

Bis dann, till then,

Atharva

A warning for Educated India!

Hello all!
Hello educated people!
Our parents make ends meet only to educate us and see us grow bigger and bigger. But WE, as the 'educated class' of society have many more reponsibilities to our demand. Growing bigger is a very natural process!
It is also necessary for us to spread what we have acquired. Education  comprises of 50% knowledge & 50% COMMON SENSE! What the society needs us to do is spread this COMMON SENSE as fast and vast as an EPIDEMIC!
Wake up India! "Educated India"!
Bis dann, till then,
Atharva!

Youth in India - On a subtle note

Hello everyone!
As u know all that the newspapers are buzzing about is The Grand Elections in India which. by the way started today. Also heard from a very relevant source that the Voting age will be reduced to 17 next year! Woohoo! guess what i'm turning 17 this month...but sadly the elections do not take place every year! Meh! :P
My Facebook wall is nowadays overpowered by some witty n some dumb election extravaganza posts. We are teenagers, what do we hate - Politics!...What do we do about it- We post it on a Social Networking site! Maybe that's the new way we express our views, reviews and what not! :P But are our posts really so effective? If u ask me...they definitely are! We could have an online election maybe in 2019!!! Why not...
If we say that we are "The proud Youth", why not do something innovative, something out of the box to make India, to make its people more n more famous, through all the availabe mediums that we have today Literally at our disposal!
Good Morning India, Good Morning Young ChangeMakers...
Wake up! Its high time that u did something for ur country!
Trust me! Start by cleaning ur beautiful bedrooms, and reorganize ur schedule of sleeping at 4 and waking up at 12 Noon.
Reorganize yourself! And let the MAGIC happen!

                                            Come on! Share some solutions!

                                                                                       Bis Dann, till then,
Atharva!