Reaching There

As a kid I remember reading about Civil Disobedience Movement.   It sounded like a foreign but interesting topic which I never really fully understood.  And to be honest, history as a subject in the school curriculum was just a series of statements taught without any context.  I don't even remember my history class or my history teacher!   I sailed through the history of India without realizing the struggle, and sacrifice generations before me went through to free India from the chains of colonialism that leeched India for over three hundred years.  Civil Disobedience Movement galvanized the entire nation, and brought the masses from cities to villages, farmers to barristers, and turned scattered disobedience into a national movement. But, what did Civil Disobedience really entailed?   It's a question I grappled recently when I started reading ' The Man Who Saved India - Sardar Patel - And His Idea of India ' by Indic author Hindol Sengupta....

I came to South Africa not knowing what to expect. But, surprisingly all my unknown expectations were fulfilled beyond my imagination! I managed to taste and enjoy most of the colors of the Rainbow Nation. Although just a three week visit and riveted around Durban, I managed to get a feel of Suid-Afrika. Durban   Airport   and the Indian Girl King Shaka Airport, Durban, SA I landed in   Durban   on a bright sunny evening in mid-November. Just near the immigration counters was a big poster of a smiling Nelson Mandela; welcoming us with a big smile and the 2010 football world cup trophy clutched tightly in his big hands. I knew I was in   South Africa,  a country I would never had thought of visiting if not for my job. The diversity was quite evident from the people at the counters. I had an African guy, a white guy and a girl of Indian origin wearily looking at the long line of people that had just landed from a flight from   Dubai . I ended up wi...

For most of us the best days of our life were the childhood days. Everything was fresh and exciting. A piece of paper to a toy gave us a world of endless possibilities. Each and every moment we were ready to learn new things. Almost nothing felt boring. Lack of ideas or no time for play was boring! God! Everything felt like a source of endless possibilities. Success, failures, disappointments, anger, selfishness and other emotions just felt like a phase that would bring something and then go. Fast forward twenty odd years ahead, you're in your twenties nearing thirties (or any age you are in). Life has become a drab and you are pushing your way through it. A piece of paper is just a piece of garbage. A toy, I can't even understand now why I played with those "things"! The moments of learning have given way to a seemingly endless race of fighting for the next level of success. The excitement of finding something new in small things has faded away and financial wants...