Who is lost and who isn't?

Walking through the roads, I see all kinds of expressions on people's faces. Some kind, some haggard, some angry, some tired and some plain lechy. But there is something common in most of their expressions. There is a dullness which comes of living a mundane life with nothing to look forward to. How must that feel?

The common man who earns is too worried about money and the future of his children. The mother, if working, is torn apart between duty and profession which gives her no time for herself. I sometimes feel that people stop making an effort to evolve after a certain level. Perhaps it is an unconscious thing and they don't even realise it as they are too caught up in day to day activities. Another fact is that not everybody can have the luxury to "GET AWAY". Not everybody can afford it and what happens to them? I wonder...

What happens when one stops asking questions to oneself? Stops questioning their own actions and why did they happen the way they did. Sometimes the competition around sickens me. It is everywhere and it makes one selfish. It makes one feel that the whole world is standing against them and there is nothing to do but fend for themselves. Sometimes I just feel like walking away from all this and being totally alone with just a pen and paper. Nature attracts me a lot at such times and I truly regret that I have never seen much of it.

Hehehe... I'm being too serious eh? Just felt it and needed to write it. As always that is what gives me solace when my mind is troubled.

In the journey of life I want to make sure that I don't stop evolving as a human being . If I stop that, my life will be empty, devoid of any meaning. When I stop evolving, I will have nothing to offer and nothing worth receiving in return. Let's all make sure that such a stage never comes. That is why I always make sure that at least one day in a week is just for me, for how can I give to others if I don't give anything to myself?

So three cheers to me time!

Our very first dance class

So people, I'm finally a dance trainer. Not in the sense you are thinking. I DID NOT take up probation and give up all my hours to dancing in front of the mirror at the cost of sacrificing everything else. But I have still become a trainer. How?
Yes, I taught dance to the children, children who are too poor to afford Jazz classes. These are the children who belong to the NGO I work for. It was great. The feeling was great, knowing that I can make good use of my talent and not just for myself but for spreading happiness among these children. Dance brings confidence and increases one self esteem along with building determination. At least dance has done that to me and much more along with that.
The children were a bit difficult to handle but on the whole, they were eager learners who respected my love for dance and did what I told them to do. It was a two way thing, you know. It wasn't as if they were the only ones benefiting from my classes. They helped me too. It was heart warming to see that they loved me and respected me enough to listen to me and give their 100%. And when they dance! Wow! They picked up really fast. I knew they were talented, but sooo much! I'm very proud of them and I know that every saturday will be a new learning experience, both for them and me.
This Saturday hit home the fact once again- THERE IS NOTHING GREATER THAN THE JOY OF GIVING.

Dirty dance...anyone?

Wow.. I finally watched the movie!

The movie was made in 1987 with Patrick Swayze (Johnny) and Jennifer Grey (Baby) as the lead actors.

From the time I was a child I was crazy about the movie and unfortunately always saw it in bits and pieces. I think Patrick Swayze is extremely sexy. I wish I could dance with him...hehe..keep dreaming Deboshree.

The chemistry between Johnny and Baby was lovely to say the least. It was amazing. I really believe that dancing brings out the best in us. I never feel as alive as I do while dancing. Freedom is the word. I feel like I'm flying and no one can take that away from me. That is one reason I can never stop dancing.

The choreograpy by Kenny Ortega was simply mind blowing. Till date, Dirty Dancing is one of the best dance movies I have seen.

If given a chance, I would love to learn dirty dancing although it is more of instinct in this dance form rather than technique (at least that is the impression I got).

The music, my god, is wonderful! Cry to me, time of my life, hungry eyes and she's like the wind are all amazing. The movie was such a wonderful package with great music, amazing choreography and lovely acting.

I wonder if anyone else feels like dancing that way (can you hear me Emmi?). I certainly do and at least once, I will.

The day that was.......

Have I ever in my life had such a wonderful Independence day in my life? I think not!

Yesterday on 15th August, I was to spend the day with the children of the NGO I work for. Aashayein (Hopes) is the name of our NGO which is under AID(Association for Indian Development).

All I can say is that the day was made special because of all the volunteers and the children. The camaraderie between all the volunteers was indeed heart warming. Because of the bonding things were easy to handle. The day had started with pouring rain but that didn't make a huge difference as the desire to have a wonderful day was too strong in us.

We had many activities which included a quiz competition, art competition, singing, dancing by the children which was followed by prize distribution and distribution of food packets.

More than anything else, the feeling of being one with all the volunteers is what touched all of us. After the end of the celebrations, all of us headed to Nirula's where we shared the laughter of a lifetime. We were in Nirula's in the above picture and I'm second on the right side.

I hope that yesterday was just the beginning of a wonderful journey. For me, it shall always be a day worth remembering.

Love to all my team members

Deboshree

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Well, I think everyone must have heard of this Academy award winning movie starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett.

I had heard quite a lot about this movie and we decided to rent the CD after we heard that Revolutionary Road wasn't available at the moment.

The movie was all I had expected and more. I don't know how to do justice with what I felt when I saw it last night. This movie made me wonder....what if...what if we were born the other way around? What if we became younger with every passing day? What if we kept growing younger? I think it would be terribly sad to see the ones you love fade away in front of your eyes while you keep getting younger. And terribly sad it was.

The movie made me think about so many things. Right now, at this moment, I'm young and alive. What will my life be like 20 years down the line? What will I be? Who will be with me and who will I lose? The moments pass by now without much notice but a time will come when every moment will drag and how longingly I will think of moments like these.

We come to this world all alone and leave it that way. But there is a short period between these two happenings and that is the time when we write our story. I know the coming years are going to bring the peak of my story and I want it to be beautiful. I want it to be something worth remembering, something that will give inspiration to people even after I leave this world. I don't want my life to be smooth sailing all the time. I want to see all sides of life and struggling is a very important part. How will I be strong if I don't struggle? I have seen quite a few things in life but not that much.

The movie made me feel grateful for what I have and grateful I am. It made me feel that the moment is now. There is no yesterday or tomorrow. What matters is now, today, this moment. It made me want to live every moment to the fullest for what I have today may not be with me tomorrow. The unpredictability of life struck me anew.

It made me feel that I have to make a difference and somehow, I just know I will.

Sorry Plato..I can't say I agree

So here I am......
3rd year of college and we have to study Western Political Thought where Plato features first. Our Greek philosopher's contributions to Political Science have been irreplacable. When I read his theories, I was amazed. How could a man possibly think so thoroughly? About every detail and every possible argument against it? No doubt Plato is a philosophical genius and he rightly deserves the place he has.
So far, I have gone through his Theory of Justice and Education. I can't say that I agree with all his points but I admire his thinking. I admire his thought process but not exactly his thoughts.
Somehow I feel that his Ideal State was harsh in nature. For him the Ideal State would be where each man did what he was best at doing. I believe in that but believing that every human can be compartmentalised as Philosopher Kings(Rulers), Warriors and the producing class with only wisdom, courage and temperance respectively dominating their minds is going a bit too far. Believing that only a philosopher king has the right to decide what the classes under him would do is rather unjust and unfair. To expect that the Rulers would only think of gaining knowledge, the warriors of dignity and honor and the producing class only of appetite is certainly erroneous. Man is a complete being with many sides and wanting only one part to dominate all the others stunts human growth and intelligence. It leads to a one sided development of the mind and body at the cost of other needs. A warrior may also desire knowledge and so may the producing class for that matter. What right does the State have to deprive man of his desires?
But more than any other theory, his theory of Communism of Wives revolted me. How could such a great thinker go to such an extent for excellence that he deprives children of a normal childhood? To say that human beings have some needs and the philosopher kings could freely go to any woman and the child produced should be given over to the State because nothing should hinder the king from gaining more knowledge, is rather cold and repulsive. I blurted out in class that it was disgusting in the middle of the lecture..hehe. Don't you think it is? In the quest for knowledge for the Philosopher Kings, Plato goes to the extreme.
But there are other theories which I have yet to study and I am looking forward to it. I agree to some of his theories and he is a genius in terms of philosophical thinking and social morality. But there are many aspects of these theories to which I simply can't agree.

Beauty

What is beauty? Something which appeals the eye? Something beautiful and attractive? So what all comes under the purview of beauty?

For me beauty has many faces..let me tell you what I think is beauty-

Beauty is when we see a young child helping his grandfather cross the street,beauty is when someone succeeds in making another human being smile, beauty is the expression on one's face after reading a lovely book which had a profound impact on him/her, beauty is when you see someone walk with life poring out of every inch of the person's being, beauty is when you can see a person who has a true zest for living, beauty is when our mind and body move as one in the way we exactly we want, beauty is between two lovers walking hand in hand with not a care in the world. The connection and understanding which needs no words is what I would call beautiful.

Nature is beauty. The perfect sychronization between each and every living and non living thing, the way things are exactly where they are supposed to be, the silent understanding between animals is what I would call beauty.

Art is beauty, music is beauty, dance is beauty. For me anything which expresses the inner being is beautiful. What do you feel when you look at Michelangelo's work? Does it touch you? It certainly touches me and that is what is beautiful. The power to touch and to move. What do you feel when you listen to your favourite song? When I listen to Annie's Song by John Denver, I'm moved to tears. That is what I call beautiful. What do you feel when you see two dancers locked in each other's arms and giving all they have? What do you feel when you see their bodies moving in perfect unison and not a step seems out of place? Their movements seem effortless and for me, that is beautiful.

Beauty is expression and expression is beauty. So if we just look around, there is quite a lot of beauty to admire! Beauty isn't a complex phenomenon. It is there around us all the time. It's presence is everywhere if we care to look.