Call of the mountains

There are few things that give true peace and visiting the mountains is one of them for me. Having spent my entire childhood in the hills of Darjeeling, it was a welcome though nostalgic trip when we (Me, wife, Netra and Naina) went there.  Last December we were up in the mountains in Sikkim and we went up close to the Nathula Pass. The ride was heavenly to say the least and with every curve we scaled, the mountains had a prettier face to show. With every kilometer we traveled I smiled more.

Needless to say, I was sad on leaving the mountains.

Though we did not go all the way up-to Nathula Pass (had to come back just 4 kms short of it), I read the hidden message. It is nothing but a sign that I need to get back there again! I am hopeful that this time will be able to reach the Pass and watch the Chinese soldiers parade.  I promise to go back and attend the call of the mountains.

Karm kar, fal ki chinta mat kar..

So says the Bhagvad Gita. Life is like a journey and at times one just needs to keep moving ahead without getting distracted by the paths left behind.

It is one thing that I have just been following it for the past few days and feel at peace. I realize that its pointless to waste energy in some things which are just not worth the effort.

My TEDxMANITBhopal talk went off really well and I am glad that I was able to interest and inspire more people there. Met a few other really interesting people there and realize with more conviction that there is so much to do, and so less time!

Which brings me to my next thought that is been conflicting in my mind. How do you let go of something (someone) you love so dearly? I know that many would ask, whether it is absolutely necessary to let go of that thing in the first place.

Well that can be debated! :)

Life is good when..

.. you meet people who can inspire you!
I have been fortunate to meet a few of them during my talks and presentations.

Keep inspiring!

Moving on .. No not yet.

The meaning of things take a different turn when the situations change.

What was pleasant a while ago, may not be the same after a certain point of time, because things change. This change is governed by multiple factors and events that happen in one's life.  At the end of it all, however the question that remains to be answered is whether the soul is happy doing a thing or not. 

Of late I have been doing a lot of introspection about things that have happened in the past and the state of those things. One of the things that I have been talking to myself about is the reasons why I started Deskala. 

Amongst the reasons, here are some of those points. 

1. Passion to do something for India - One
2. To spread awareness about Design in India
3. To do socially relevant projects in the contexts of Design for Social Impact - a topic that was the core of my Masters Thesis project back at Indiana Univ.
4. To have an entity of my own where I am the boss and get to spend time on Photography and Design - This entity could be as an individual or as an organization.
5. To travel and have projects that would require travel so that I can travel across the country India and perhaps the world.
6. To take a lot of pictures and make documentaries along the way while traveling.
7. To be happy doing what I am doing.

During the course of my introspection, I try to find an answer to these above mentioned points and how am I doing it with respect to the company. One would then ask, so what is the status of things now. Are there reasons still valid with the set of changes that have undergone.

Each of the above mentioned points require a separate blog post and I think I will do just that over the next few weeks. It will help me connect with myself better and help me reach that state of peace that is so eluding.

Some people are just not worth it ... just Let it go.

No matter how much of an effort you put in.
Best is to just ignore and move on.

Here's a song I have been listening to almost daily!

Can I have a longer day please?

I often wonder about this. And as much as I know that it is not a possibility, I still hope that one day it shall be possible.

Things looking super busy at the office and with that there is the now 2 month old marriage to take care of. Amongst this there is the month of travels coming up in February.

At Deskala, I have been doing things I had never done before, like Recruitment, interviewing people to join us and also generating Employee offer letters! Social media marketing which somehow only I believe in at the company, is therefore sole-ly on my shoulders. I like doing it, because it keeps me updated with my field and I try to ensure that the links are shared through our Twitter channel and Facebook pages.

Amidst all these, I have been asked to write up a few articles for publications and thats something that I need to spend some dedicated time on.

Phew thats a lot to do, and the time so less. Somehow managing to take the time out to sit over chai and discuss things that does not fall in the above bucket.

 

I so sincerely wish that the days were much longer.

The year that was...

So another year comes to an end, and this is the customary year end post. Has been a year of highs and lows personally indeed. There have been laughs and cries both aplenty.


Amongst the other things that happened, I got married.  I guess thats a mixed bag. So far so good, is the phrase that comes to my mind when someone asks me hows it going.

I voted for the first time, and felt glad that the person I voted for, won the elections. What made it more sweet was the fact that he was able to attend my wedding.

Met a few friends after a long gap. Some after 13-14 years! And our talks would never end! Its amazing when you connect with friends after such a long time. The memories come alive and it does not look at all like so much time has passed. We discussed the bunking of classes, the pathetic hostel food, the teachers who taught us to lead, the games we played, the adventures we had etc.

Oh and on the travel front, I traveled more and more and covered, Rajasthan a bit, Pondicherry and more of Sikkim. I further explored other parts of Bihar (the central districts), just to see the changes evident on the development front. Seeing is believing they say. In Sikkim, we went close to the Nathula pass there. The lifestyle of people at both these places, namely small townships in Sikkim and rural Bihar, fascinated me. I think thats the matter of another post.

2000-2010 has been an interesting decade, where I explored not only parts of the world, but also India a lot. Infact towards the end of 2010, I also explored Bihar a lot.

The coming years definitely promises to be a lot more challenging, with me and my partners trying to expand the business, Deskala that we started. Need to establish the photography business and also the social enterprise that I had initially set up.

Time as they say is always short, and the efforts are on. :)