And then came the warm one...which rolled down my eyes !

And then came the warm one, 

Which rolled down my eyes.

                          After all these years ?

                          It took me by surprise !

All this while, I'd caged it in fences.

But suddenly now, your thoughts dominated my defenses.

                          Your scent drifted around, distant laughs filled my ears.

                          My sombre within, suddenly filled with cheers.

My fingers fell numb, as they sensed you hold.

As if trying to tell me something, as I fell cold.

                          I looked down to see her hold my hand.

                          Our little Princess! Smiling just like you, in her favorite hair-band.
I bent down and kissed her,
And you kissed me one back.

                         I smiled at her,
                         And hugged you tight.
And then came the warm one, 

Which rolled down my eyes.

                         After all these years... Yes.

                         It took me by surprise !

Love-ly Locha ?!!

"Love is of all passions, the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses !"

 - Lao Tzu

Love, a seemingly plain and simple four-letter-word... L-O-V-E.

Undoubtedly the strongest and deepest of all emotions and better-most of all bonds. Love. 

What exactly is thing so mysterious, so fascinating, so simple but yet so unfathomable.

From time immemorial we've been hearing of stories or rather EPICS of love-borne souls. Stories of Romeo and Juliet, Antony and Cleopatra, Layla-Majnun, Salim-Anarkali, Shah Jahan and Mumtaz and more of "The League", not only talk of but also epitomize love in the best possible way. The innocence, purity, the greatness...all just make these Cupidians the perfect love-couples to talk of.

Even today we find many such souls possessed by love who claim to be the innocent victims of that winged-Cupid's arrow, or so atleast they claim. Infact every 5th friend of yours (just an estimate figure) would claim to be in a relationship, or in love, as said them. Even if they don't speak of it, certain symptoms are always there out in the open for the vigilant minds : untimely calls, loss of hunger and/or sleep, solitary being or jus' smiling away. I know it all sounds filmy but seriously, its all out there, ain't it ! Being in love is one thing, but why ditch the necessities of life dude ? Well, now its not even completely their fault. And how do we know this ? Thanks to Science...

Numerous studies and researches have been undertaken to study these symptomatic patterns of people deeply in love, and the results have been very interesting... 

The moment when you see your loved ones (or infatuated ones, you decide) and you blush or start beating your chest, is nothing but the sudden gush of adrenaline in your "Bloody" circuits, a sort of Stress (of perhaps dealing with huge excitement of thy lover's sight) Response. As comes in the Hindi song - "saamne, yeh kaun aaya, dil mein hui halchal. Dekh ke bas ek hi nazar, ho gaye ham pagal..." :) :P

Best have been the Neurophysical reports.

Dr. Arthur Aaron, associated with the State University of New York, reports from his fMRI studies of the brain that :

• early stage of love is associated with a hypertrophy (i.e. hyper-activation) of the sub-cortical region rich in DA (Dopamine).
• romantic love engages the brain systems associated with motivation to acquire reward.

It would be interesting here to note that the brain area mentioned in the last point is also the part active (hyperactive ofcourse) in addicts. Be it alcohol, drugs, cocaine, gambling, etc. And DA or Dopamine is a neurotransmitter a chemical messenger of the brain (in layman). With this comes another interesting point worth noting that anything causing a gush of DA (or a neurotransmitter for that matter) is accompanied with a sense of pleasure and well-being.

In another brain-MRI study, of the deeply and madly in love, by Dr. Lucy Brown, a neuroscience Professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, it was revealed :

1. there is an increased activity of the VTA (Ventral Tegmental Area), which is the same part active in addiction or a cocaine "high".
2. in addition, other parts of the brain become comparitivley less active (this involves areas controlling behaviour and impulses as well as fear and negative emotions)

Point (1) here would probably explain the "madness" in love and Point (2) would perhaps help shed some light on the various behaviour changes including sleep, and hunger, and.... the fact "jab pyaar kiya toh darna kya" !

At this point, and the conjecture we've so far developed, it wouldn't be a bad idea to agree with Dr. Helen Fisher, scientist at Rutgers University, who says that "love can well be classified as an addiction as it is associated with a drive and involves the same areas of the brain, as in an addict".

Another enthralling study reveals low-levels of Serotonin (again, a neurotransmitter) in the head ! Now these low levels of Serotonin place Cupidians in direct comparison with people suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD is characterized by the person indulging in certain actions or thoughts and the indulgence being an uncontrolled compulsion. Similiar is the case with lovers lost in the thought of their loved-ones 24X7, isn't it ?!!

So, to sum it all up, Love is but a "Chemical Locha" in the brain (Locha is a soft hindi slang for mess/problem).

As said by Shakespeare, "Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind, and therefore is

winged-cupid painted blind" !

So the next time any girl speaks to ypu of Romeo and Juliet or Layla-Majnun, go ahead and tell her what "locha" actually happened with them, and you never know...it might just turn out to be your lucky day. Oh and yes, you too then would join "the League". ;)

Before I wind up, I'd like you to ponder on this...after knowing of all this chemical-locha and that we're actually helpless not at the hands of our hearts (as very much propagated in Bollywood) but at the hands of our minds, does true-love really exist ?

To add to this, La Rouchefoucauld quotes to us - "true love is like ghosts, of which many speak, but only few have seen" !

Though I firmly believe in the belief that every soul has been made with its respective "pair", but then this love-ly locha and all just confuses me.

Well whatever it be, at the end of the day, sooner or later, you have to fall in love once-n-for all,
right ? And ofcourse, no love is complete without no compromise !!

As it is said, "to love, is human. And to be indulgent, is also human"

                                                                                             - Latin Proverb.

  



~ Face in the Mirror ~

Everytime its there,
In the mirror when I see...
My past my present, and my desires to be !
I've seen it laugh,
I've seen it cry,
I've seen it tire o'er endLess try.
Never to me, has it spoken a word.
A horde of its taunts, yet I've heard !
It reveals to me scars and bruises umpteen,
From feuds & confLicts and battles unseen.
We debate, we argue,
We sing, we strife.
We criticise and mystify,
and ponder o'er sarcasms of life !
Such a parrot, it smiLes like me, it frowns like me.
Its even got the two ocular browns like me !
And everytime its there,
In the mirror when I see...
My past my present, and my desires to be !!

I Salute my Nation...Jai Hind !

I Salute my Nation for the culture it inculcates in our bosoms...which shapes our lives !
I Salute my Nation for the love it kindles within our hearts...towards both young n old alike !
I Salute my Nation for the values and bonds it makes us respect !
I Salute my Nation for progress in every walk of life !
I Salute my Nation for the immortal examples of determination, courage and spirit it has gifted us in inheritance, through our prestigious and colorful history !
I Salute my Nation's Tricolor,
I Salute my Nation... Proud to be an Indian...
JAI HIND !

A land rich in riches. Talk about history and you can find yourself wandering alleys right from the Lal Qila in the North to the majestic Ajanta and Ellora in the south, from the forts of Jaipur to the stupas at Sanchi !
Talk about culture and you may find yourself shipwrecked if you were to underestimate the diversity all the way from the valleys of Kashmir to down-south Kanyakumaari !
Talk about seasons...and mention just one which does not give a 100% attendence in the weather school of this blessed land. Summers-present ma'am, Winters-present miss, Autumn-present, Spring-yes ma'm, Monsoon...ooh ok, lets forget the toppers...!!!!
Talk about affection and I'll invite you to any random house of your choice. Enter it and you'll find 3 generations all living together, eating together, laughing together, hoping together....all just wanting to be together.
Talk about politics, and lets start with the first appearnace of India on the International stage, at a time when the world was war-torn between two mighty superpowers. It was at this time that India, who was nothing more than the new kid stepping into the rowdy neighbourhood, held its head high and looked the world right into its face...and made its own statement of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which was soon to become the voice of many ! Simultaneously it crafted for itself one of the strongest political framework, which developed to be the worl'd largest Democracy ! India's achievements on the International and National stage have only piled thereon...
Talk of movies (oh c'mon now, you can't talk India without cinemaaaa...) and we have our beloved Bollywood, equally entertaining Tollywood...and perhaps one or two other 'woods...which form an integral part of almost every Indian's lives, be it from having screen idols to mugging up hard-core romantic lines !
Talk about monetary riches, then have a look at the various monuments built in the inert gold. A special mention of one of the temples in south India whose vaults have been recently unlocked only to make the government lose count of all the gold coins in it, and this was just one of the four vaults. Apart from this, the mention of Tata, Birla, Ambani, Baba Ramdev, BCCI (hehehee) etc.
Talk of whatever you like...and you'll be in for a richful surprise...!
The beautiful landscapes, the snow-caped mountains, the crystal-clear waterfalls, the lush green mountains...
Dharti sunehri, Ambar neela, har mausam rangeela... Aisa des hai mera ho-oo aisa des hai mera...! (just the perfect song, from Veer-Zaara)

Jai Hind :)

~ It's All in the Mind ~

MIND !

What exactly is this thing called ‘mind’, ever wondered ?

Well let me help you with this one. To begin with, it is the first step to do anything. When we “think” of doing something...anything, it is our mind which comes into action first. Mind, as defined by the New Oxford English Dictionary, is the faculty of consciousness and thought of a person or the person’s intellect. But honestly speaking, I believe this four-letter-word, MIND, cannot be contained so easily in just mere definitions as such. Its got to itself far more than what these definitions or rather more than what this kind of paperwork can explain. Its all in the mind...I hope you’ll agree with me on this once you’ve made it to the final line!

Well let us consider a situation. You have a very important work to do and suddenly you realize that you’re getting late for it. Then what do you do? Be it unwillingly or out of habit, but you may first of all PANIC, because it occurred in your “mind” that you’re going to be in a problem if you don’t land up doing your job on time. It was your mind which worked and told you, “Hey dude! You better hurry up…”
Here’s another example. Let us consider two people, one is a very easy-go kind of a person, calm and composed. While the other is a much tensed one, who takes tension for even the small things in life. Now let’s put them in an emergency situation, say for example…EXAMS ?! (Aah, the smile on your faces). Though exams are not supposed to be an emergency situation, but... THEY ARE ! Ok, so which of the two do you expect will go through easily? The first person, obviously. He may sit down, draft a study plan, revise routinely. Andeven if not all this, even if he ain't that studious, then at least he’ll breathe easy, pray to God and look at himself into the mirror and say “I’ll do the best I can, whatever the outcome be !” And what about the other person? Gosh! He may start panting the day exam dates are out. Andeven if he’s a studious person, his tensed attitude may cost him, in case he forgets something out of mere anxiety. He's panicked to meet his targets, scared to mess up his exams and earn a bad rep, and thinks "I want score high.. I want to do this and that...". He’s far from even believing, forget saying to himself “I’ll do my best”.

So where exactly is the problem? It’s all in the mind.

It was the first person’s mind-setup which allowed him to take things in a composed manner. In case of the second person, when his mind was itself not at ease then how can we expect him to “take it easy”?!
It’s all in the mind my friends, like the saying by John Milton – “the mind is its own place, and in itself it can make hell of Heaven and heaven of Hell”!

Well this was one aspect of the mind. There’s another more enthralling aspect to our minds which I wish to discuss. An aspect which if understood and worked towards in the right manner, will not only enlighten us but will also ‘empower’ us. And to explain this aspect, I’d like to first talk about the “placebo effect”.
It is the measurable, observable or the felt improvement in health which is not attributed to any administered medication or an invasive treatment, but rather has a psychological component.
Placebo, Latin for “I shall please”, is a pharmacologically inert substance (such as a saline solution or a starch tablet) given in the garb of a medicine. Working psychologically, it produces responses equivalent to that of the active drug, the degree of response varying from person to person. The idea of placebo, in modern times, originated with H. K Beecher. He conducted a number of trials to study and understand how “something” could be produced out of nothing. Initially, the idea of placebo and its usage did suffer many tests of faith, but thanks to the efforts of people like Dr. John C. Bailer, R. Barker Bausell and many others, which helped in proving and infact re-instating placebo as a potent medical aid.
A study, conducted by Atonella Pollo et all published in the Journal “Pain”, demonstrated that the placebos can help with serious pain. Here is an abstract from the study…
" A certain number of thoracotomized patients divided into three groups, were treated with Buprenorphine together with a basal i.v. infusion, for 3 consecutive days. The first group was told nothing about any analgesic effect (natural history). The second group was told that the basal infusion was either a painkiller or a placebo (classic double-blind administration). Whereas the third group was told that the basal infusion was a potent painkiller (deceptive administration).
Point to be noted : the analgesic treatment was the same in all the three cases, but the verbal instructions differed. The psychological outlook of the patients was thus, manipulated.
At the end of the three day treatment, the recordings of the doses of Buprenorphine were compared and it was found that the double-blind group showed a reduction of Buprenorphine requests (9.15mg). But the reduction of requests was even larger in case of the deceptive-administration group (7.65mg). whereas the natural-history group didn’t show much reduction (11.55mg). Despite dose differences, it was noted that analgesia was the same in all three groups.

These results indicate that different verbal instructions produce different analgesic effects, which in turn triggers a dramatic change of behavior leading to a significant reduction of opioid intake. Naloxone, an opioid antagonist, blocks placebo analgesia. So, to an extent, it can be said that placebo works by stimulating the opioid system of the body"....
On a separate account, Dr. Irwin Kirsch, a psychologist at the University of Connecticut, has said on placebo that the effect is psychological. The critical factor for any such placebo to work is our “expectation” of improvement, our “beliefs” and “thoughts” about what is going to happen to us. Thus it is consistent with the current knowledge that a person’s hopeful attitude and beliefs may be very important for their physical well-being and recovery from injuries or illness.

In short, it is our mind which holds all the cards to our well-being while it plays its game from backstage. Imagine, a positive and "healthy mind" could help you cure from perhaps the gravest of injuries or pains, and what if we all practice SUCH a healthy mind for day-to-day life?
Open up your minds my friends, and empower yourselves. If you’re in any problem, any difficulties then start first not with your surroundings or yourself, but with your mind.
As it is said, “We are what our thoughts make us!”
And where do we nest our thoughts? It is, after all...

All in the mind !

~ PaathshaaLa ~

Aao tum logon ko Paathshaala ke baare mein ikhtila karein... Kya? You know? You really think so? Lets see ...
From our successful schooling (atleast to a certain extent), we all would remember that lesson from one the driest branches of science, Physics, which said: "Energy is neither created nor destroyed, but remains conserved...". Hmmm? Yaad aaya kuch...haan haan wahi... that day some Mr. Balasubramaniam with big black spectacles mounted up his nose had taught something like this ya ? Hai na...?!!
Yesss, you got it. The lesson that day (dude ! I'm sorry if you were absent from the class that day) !! :)
Now, the question arises, that what exactly is this concept of conservation of energy? Well, now I don't claim to be any disciple of Mr. Balasubramaniam, but maybe I CAN help you understand this one.
So, ready ? No no, keep down your pens and just pay attention... ;)
Well to make it extremely simple, I could say the answer to your inquisitiveness is all just in one word - MANIFESTATION !
You keep an iron rod on the burning (giving off energy) stove, the rod gets hot and turns blue and then red, right ? It has thus gained THE energy, and the color (or say your hand getting burnt, if you are a nincompoop enough to touch it) is the Manifestation. Talk about your kitchen in the morning, you gather energy, though meagre, and hit the egg onto that slab in front of you. Your energy manifests as the egg cracking open (or it may break into your hands out of some yawning miscalculations...) and you thus enjoy a delicious-French omelette-with-Spanish toast-breakfast ! What when you get into an unwelcoming tiff with someone...the other person punches you right into your nose, you then gain that energy (let me term it "negative" here) and follow Newton's third law of motion... the Manifestation !! (Note : this rule does not apply to the staunch followers of Baapu) !
You are excited about something, your mind is loaded with (and lets term this as "positive") energy. If things proceed positively, your neurotransmission is affected by that positive energy thus making you happy. Or if anything in the meanwhile goes wrong, your neurotransmission may be affected in the reverse manner (say the energy backfired...) and you may manifest as being sad...?!
Tectonic plates of the earth collide, energy is generated and i guess its Manifestation needs no mention...
One last,
Shake a bucket of water, the energy you provided would either come as ripples or spill the water out, the dergree of manifestation depending upon the intensity from your side. You decide how much is required and for what outcome.
Consider this bucket itself, let it be filled not with water but with life...YOUR LIFE ! And the bucket represents a problem, a conflict or a hardship, which may restrict your lives. If you feel you need a break, you need to get out of it...all you have to do is provide energy. Take that one step which shall then manifest as you getting out of it. The decision and the intensity of the energy to be provided all depends on YOU, YOUR THOUGHT, YOUR WILLINGNESS, YOUR DETERMINATION....YOU !!!
Do not permit yourself be disheartened or depressed in life, let any situation come to face, thanks to this law of conservation of energy or as we have learnt today (oh yes yes, you're most welcome... ;) ), this Manifestation-Concept, which works in real life also !!!
That "physics lesson" was one I was forced to learn in school, but what I spoke of has been taught to me not by some boring black-spectacled Balasubramaniam, but by the harshest yet the best teacher one could think of... Life itself !!
Lessons of school might end with school itself, but their energy does manifest in our lives which urges us, forces us to understand what life would be wanting to tell us...to teach us, in its own way ! Yehi hai asal Paathshaala, Zindagi, jismein ham sab baraabar ke students hain.
This was just one one the many lessons I share with you. Have learnt many more, and at the same time...many more yet to be learnt.
Life is a never-ending lesson...
What more than this, all our lives we learn to live life, but in the end it teaches us to die too !!

A Tribute...!

In today's sombre world, where the common man wakes up daily only to dance to the tunes of his monotonous "Self-Centred" daily cycles-of-awakening-and-sleep which we could vaguely term as Life...we have become but a shadow of ourselves. By saying this, oh and which includes me too, I'm trying to point out the "care a damn..." attitude we all see around ourselves. I mean, be it anything...take for example the case of your neighbour having a fight with someone. You would soon find your house-mates divided into camps for and against just finding out (out of the sake that he/she brought you a fruit basket when you had a broken arm) whats the matter, forget helping sort it out. Its a very common thing today. Its like kinda understood that even if someone is in trouble, one will lend a helping hand (that too expressing the FAVOR) only after the-person-in-need acknowledges him as a savior-of-the-day...!!

Our needs stand first, regardless of how much ever helpless the other person may be. If the thing does not concern us, we just don't bother to even spare a second thought at it. And majority of us do this not with a selfish mind, but out of habit...or say out of being accustomed to such reactions to ourselves ?! And in thinking all this, in ultimately acting the way we do...its our mature minds at work. A mind with full-grown understanding and IQ to decide what is right and what is wrong, to decide what is "expected" out of us and what is it that we "choose" to do. C'mon, even when we give a deaf ear to anybody crying just because we don't have time, somewhere in the back of our minds we do know that the other person needs a hearing ear, don't we ?

And amidst all this, comes the story of a Heroine (thats what I wanna call her). A Heroine who decided to save the day not in one but many ways. A Heroine who told us that this world ain't that sombre afterall. A Heroine who never kept herself, even for once, above the call of the day. A Heroine who was not our age physically, but emotionally surpassed us perhaps by lightyears.... Mumpy Sarkar !!

A 12-year old girl, class VI sudent and a resident of Nadia district of Dhantala, West Bengal. One fine day, she decides to save her family from all the truobles...trouble of father's diminishing vision, trouble of elder brother's failing kidney, and trouble if dowry too, all of which challenged the father's daily wages...............

With the worry taking its toll on the family's well-being, she decided to commit suicide. No, not out of depression...but as a soluton.With this, she thought (as her suicide note revealed), she would help her father and her Class XI brother with the eyes and kidney respectively. A move which resulted out of the realisaton by the family that transplants were the only cure. A cure not just BIG just in terms of surgery, but financially too. She decided to help her father in who's laps she'd grown up as a child. She decided to help her brother whose had she would have held while she stepped out of the house... She decided to help them all, without even once placing herself above them, placing her innocence above them, placing her blooming dreams above them.

If one says that she was just a 12 year old and out of emotional attachment, without far thought and mature thinking, she did such a thing.... HEY MISTER !!!!! YOU BETTER CHECK YOURSELF ! Had she been immature, would she understand what "the only treatment" would mean? Would she even realise that transplants of the same blood-relative are the best? Would she leave behind that suicide note which was addressed to her mother, in which she "poore hosh-o-awaaz mein" wrote that after my death, use my kidneys and eyes ???!!!

She was mature enough to know it all. And with this, I believe, she has given life to the term "humanity" !

However, Mumpy's suicide note was found only after her family had cremated her "self-poisoned"body, which only left the aggrieved family inconsolable.

By sharing this I just intend to share with you a piece of news which moved me to the roots of my heart. Which placed itself as a mirror in front of me, and questioned MY humanity.

And for me, I wouldn't term it as an end of life (barring myself from ethics at the moment...). She has rather immortalised herself as an epitome of emotion, attachment, love, care, happiness, sacrifice, help...and all the qualities that make the daily sleep-and-awakening cycle to termed, actually, as "LIFE" !!

- The incident took place in Dhantala's Jhorpara, West Bengal, June 27, 2011.

- Source : Times of India; 5th July, 2011.

Salutes to Mumpy (a Tribute) !