My burden doesn't feel any lighter, but I feel strong enough to carry it.

Simple but true...

Money-wise

What is your first reaction when you see an Audi Q7 standing just beside you at a light-point?

"See how big-people waste their money!"

"What does this man thinks of himself. Does he own the road too." you mumble...

OR

When you pass by a big bunglow!!

"10 rooms just for 4 people. How lavish life style these people have. Do they really need this much..."

"The owner must be a corrupt man, otherwise how can someone afford such a big house.huh..."

Most of you will agree. We have the tendency to label all rich as corrupt, greedy, unethical etc. etc.

Why so? Because our society & upbringing has conditioned our minds to think this way. We have spent our whole life listening to the things like:


"Money is the root of all evils"

"Money can buy food but not hunger, bed but not sleep"

"Money cannot give us happiness"

"Contentedness is happiness"  and so on...


In fact this is the theme behind so many bollywood movies.

-- Remember movie, Maine Pyar Kiya. The heroine wins the sympathy of masses as she is the daughter of a poor motor mechanic. Pity soul!! On the other hand the villainous father of the hero is a filthy rich guy.

--Take any movie of Amitabh Bacchan, and you will find him playing the role of a poor, destitute,  more often an orphan, who takes revenge from the evil rich.

Even their Hollywood counterparts are not better either.

-- Spider man is again our same poor guy and the rich one the villain

-- Harry potter, the poor guy suffers at the hands of fellow rich guys.

Our popular culture makes us to believe this:

All rich are evil, nasty, corrupt & unethical. Rich guys suck.....

THE MYTH : We are conditioned to believe that money is bad and that being broke is somehow better.

THE FACT : Money is neither good nor bad. It is neutral. In fact it is your mind, that, if not under your control, can create havoc in our like.

What you DO with the money makes all the difference.


From the time that you and I were little, our brain has been soaking up all these opinions about money and wealth, though they're completely untrue in real life. Hating the rich has become trendy. No doubt there are many rich people who have amassed huge sums by mal-practices. This is especially true in case of India where becoming rich has become synonymous with being corrupt. In India, making money & remaining honest is very difficult, if not impossible. But lamenting a whole community, just because a few people are bad, is wrong. This trend is called collectivism. Collectivism considers the community as a whole and does not take into consideration the individuals that make the community. One individual is different from another.  Not all rich are bad, and not all bad are rich. It varies from person to person.

Think about it: if your goal is to be a honest, ethical, loving, caring  and generous person......
....and you believe that having money will make you evil, mean, nasty and greedy....


Well, think again...


But what about the above maxims about money (like money is not everything). Are they invalid! Should we run after money like mad men. Should we sell our soul, our conscience to become filthy rich. Should we adopt unfair means to make quick bucks.


The answer is NO.


The maxims are valid, but only when applied within their context. Money is not everything. Agreed. But this statement does not nullify the importance of earning money, provided that you are earning money in a fair manner.

Others will bring religion into this. They will argue that most of the popular religions teach us to be contended. Yes absolutely true. But they never stop you from righteous earning. Infact Hinduism defines arth (capital) as one of the four pillars of life.

So what is the point? Simple. Money is a means is not the end. But it is also the most important means. By having money you are in a capacity to do something for others. If you are a broke, you cannot help another broke. We have to get rid of all the negative programming first, and try to see things in right perspective. We have to give us permission to be wealthy & to be wise.

In the nutshell be wise, money-wise.

That's all folks!!

3 Habits I always wanted to change

....watch your habits, for they become character.

watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

I wish I would have not been so lazy, I wish I could be more disciplined, I wish I could have been less temperamental, I wish I should not have been a compulsive talker, I wish.....

How many times do we think that  our life would be so different if we can somehow change ourselves. But most of time end up in frustration in this process. What we are & how we behave are a result of our habits. The interesting thing is that the habits are so subtle that we may not even realize that we possess them.

This is because the habits are formed slowly & gradually over a period of time & get so ingrained in our lives that we are unable to detect them.

Luckily I was able to introspect & find certain habits about myself, that if changed, can drastically change my life. There were many, but I picked out 3 prominent ones:

Habit 1. Procrastination

This one is my favorite. And also the most disastrous. I know the bell is ringing over my head, I realize this job needs to be done as soon as possible, but I deliberately  postpone to some other day. How convenient!

Rabindranath Tagore, the great Indian poet & a Nobel Laurette famously said

“I have spent my days
stringing and unstringing my instrument
while the song I came to sing
remains unsung.”

Procrastination is the greatest killer of opportunity. It does not let us complete our projects on schedule. Minute-by-minute, day-by-day we procrastinate, and then these days turns into months & ultimately months into years.

When I analyzed, the major reasons I found for procrastination are:

• Either I have enough time, so that it may be done later or I have No Time at all.
• Its important, but since not urgent, so why do it now?
• I don't feel like doing it (this one is the best excuse :)
• Not sure what to do

Habit 2. Being Judgemental  

 

Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgement you judge, you shall be judged...

I am very quick to judge others. Only to realize that 90% of the time, my judgements are proved otherwise.

I form opinions & jump to conclusions straightaway, based on limited information set I have. Without realizing that as human being our senses are fallible, our vision limited, totally unaware of the actual circumstances. Judgements are not based on facts or evidence, but on perceptions. And perceptions can be wrong. 

I honestly want to get rid of this ASAP. I have realized that in this whole process, I have lost really good people and alternatively trusted the non-trustworthy ones.

How would I feel when I think that I am being judged. Very very bad indeed. I will feel that I am

insignificant, not worthy. I may even doubt my potential as a human being. Or I may turn rebel.

So, I need to start seeing things from others' perspective, put myself into their situation & STOP being judgmental.

Habit 3. Not Listening

 

How can I say that I have the habit of Not listening, when I daily listen to my wife, my boss my friends & to everyone on this earth who can talk!!

It is because listening is different that hearing!!

Most of the time when people talk to me, I am either careless to what they are saying or if the topic is about me, I become defensive. Either of the two can't be described as listening.

When we listen with the intent to reply and not for the sake of understanding others point of view, the conversation loses its meaning.

In conclusion, diagnosing a problem is the first step towards solving it. Since I have now sorted out the problematic habits, I am determined to correct them. Wish me luck...

India

Haridwar - Rishikesh 19 Aug

Travel - bug seems to have bitten me this week. Just after two days after I returned from Shimla, a new trip (though a short one) was on the way.  The fun was that it was planned just a night before journey. Destination - Rishikesh & Haridwar. These are very sacred Hindu places. Rishikesh being my preferred place. The river Ganga(Ganges) in the proximity of mountains - what else needs to be desired for.

Since it was a one day trip, it was decided that we would leave as early as possible in the morning. 4 AM was the decided time. But as always, we couldn't make it before five. There was confusion as to which route to follow. The options were:

Option 1 
Panchkula - Ambala - Jagadhari - Yamunanagar - Saharanpur - Roorkee - Haridwar - 200 Km

Option 2
Panchkula - Ramgarh- Barwala - Saha - Jagadhari - Yamunanagar - Saharanpur - Roorkee - Haridwar - 200 km

Option 3
Panchkula - Naraingarh - Kala Amb - Nahan - Paonta Sahib - Dehradun - Haridwar  - 215 Km

The criteria was the condition of the road , as the distance was almost save for every route. Well none of the roads can be described as the best as most of them are single roads. After much brainstorming Option 2 was agreed upon.

As we reached Ramgarh, it started raining. Not this time, I thought. The road was single & it was the time when the truckers dominate the road. Our speed was considerably reduced due to this. Our target to reach Haridwar by 9 PM did not look feasible. The rain just didn't stop. The rain gods had decided to compensate for the dry spell of last month. But why today? I was thinking. Couldn't it be postponed by one day.

At about 7 we reached Yamunanagar. Outside view became a little brighter, but there was no respite from rain. I wanted to go outside to relax, but the rain was relentless. So we continued amidst rain.

Raining stopped when we reached Roorke. At about 10 AM, we were in Haridwar. We parked our vehicles near Har ki Pauri. The view ahead was awesome. Due to rains the river Ganga (Ganges) was flowing with full might, but its water was muddy. We were in fix whether to take a dip or not. All voted yes, and we took a dip in the holy Ganges. Once inside water, we realized that our decision was worth. Unfortunately, we had forgotten camera inside car. So we could not take any pictures.

After spending about 2 hours, we decided to go to Rishikesh.

Rishikesh is a small town, about 24 Kms away from Haridwar and mostly famous for its serenity & ashrams along the river Ganga. It took about 1 hour to cover this small distance as the road widening work was in progress & also there were many others who were heading to the same destination.

Rishikesh town is also called the Gateway for Char Dham Yatra (four sacred Hindu pilgrimages). A quiet well maintained road leads to Muni-ki-Reti, the most happening place in Rishikesh. Muni-ki-Reti literally means 'Sand of the Sages', which is true in the sense that this is the place where many saints have performed austerities here.

There are may attractions in this region, but we could only make it to Laxman Jhoola, due to scarcity of time. Laxman Jhula is a suspension bridge crossing the river Ganges. Similar to Laxman Jhula is Ram Jhula situated few kilometers away.

Ganga in Rishikesh looks more gorgeous than Haridwar. Spending some time along the banks of river here, is a blessing experience.

None of us wanted to go back so soon, but we had limited time. So with a heavy heart we left Rishikesh promising to visit the place again sometime in future. Due to the pathetic road condition & traffic, we decided not to follow the same route for return journey. So we considered Option 3 and decided to go via Dehradun. Milestone suggested 48 km journey upto Dehradun. The road passes through Rajaji National Park which is a sanctuary for wild animals especially elephants. Throughout the road there were warning signage indicating tourists to be beware of elephants that may suddenly appear along the way. We were anticipating to see one, but weren't so lucky, there there was no shortage of monkeys though :)

We passed through Jolly Grant, the domestic airport of Dehradun.The journey was going fine.We were thoroughly enjoying our journey through the jungle, until a detour awaited us.

When we reached Doiwala, there was diversion of the route through a single lane village road. The traffic police told us that due to traffic jam further, they were all diverting Dehradun bound vehicles through this route. OK, no problem, I thought. Dehradun was approx 17 kms from there and we expected to reach Dehradun within half an hour. But the luck had planned otherwise.

After criss-crossing the jungle & villages, we had our major obstacles waiting. Due to heavy rains, the pulis(small bridges) were washed away. In place of that there were heap of stones & water flowing across them. This created a jam like sequence In order to avoid one traffic jam, we were stuck into another. At first I was skeptical about crossing my car in such situation. But then, to my surprise a Tana Nano crossed the stream without any major difficulty. So, without hesitating further I maneuvered my car across the stream. There was a sudden thud indicating that some stone had hit the base of our car. But nothing major harm was done.

It was like a moment of victory. I felt like I was participating in Himalayan car rally.
But this was not the end. There were still more similar streams to cross. But this time I was confident. It took us two hours to reach Dehradun bypass.

The journey ahead, though, was a smooth one. Earlier the road from Paonta Sahib to Kala Amb was in bad shape, but this time, thankfully it was recarpeted. Had the time permitted, we would definitely have visited the Gurudwara at Paonta Sahib.

Here is the picture of the bridge over river Yamuna, that was takes last year from the Gurudwara Sahib.

This bridge joins two states - Himachal on one side & Uttrakhand on other.

The road from Paonta Sahib upto Kala Amb was in good state. We stopped near Kala Amb for refreshments. Finally reached home about 9 PM. It was a tiring but enjoyable journey.

Quick Facts

• Total Distance covered : 465 KM.
• Toll tax : 1 (Between Yamunanagar & Saharanpur)
• Routes: 
• Up - Panchkula - Ambala - Jagadhari - Yamunanagar - Saharanpur - Roorkee - Haridwar 
• Down -  Rishikesh - Dehradun(de tour) - Paonta Sahib - Nahan - Kala Amb - Ramgarh - Panchkula
• Road Condition - The one through Poanta Sahib & Dehradun is good.
• GPS Tracking provided by: Hi Tecpoint Technologies (hitecpoint.com)
• Tracking Device : Blackbox™ TM 33.

Route Playback

SMS and Social Networking Ban: How serious is our Government?

SMS and Social Networking Ban: How serious is our Government?

Useless

Railway signage has always bewildered me since childhood. Most of us are aware of Road Signals as they are part of our day to day life, but the same does not apply to railway signals. During my childhood, while travelling by train, I always wondered what these stand for.

Sample this

& its English equivalent

Ultimately I found out its meaning, and the joy of discovery cannot be described :)

In Hindi (the first one) - Seeti/Fatak.(सी / फा)
In English - Whistle/Level Crossing (W/L )

It is indication for the driver to blow Whistle   as there is Level Crossing ahead.

Indian Rail fan. Anyone? This link is very useful:

http://www.irfca.org/

EPILOGUE - Shimla 14-16 Aug 2012

One way trip summary

• Distance Travelled : 120 KM.
• Route : Panchkula - Pinjore - Parwanoo bypass - Dharampur - Solan - Kandaghat - Shogi - Shimla - New Shimla
• Travel Time: 3 hours approx
• Toll tax: 2 (1. Himalayan Expressway 2. Himachal State Entry Tax at Parwanoo).
• Road Condition: Good
• GPS Tracking provided by: Hi Tecpoint Technologies (hitecpoint.com)
• Tracking Device : Blackbox™ TM 33.

Route Playback

Travelogue - Shimla 14-16 Aug - Day 2

Previous Posts

Travelogue - Shimla 14-16 Aug 2012 - Prologue

Travelogue - Shimla 14-16 Aug 2012 - Day 1

Travalogue Shimla 14-16 Aug - Day 1 continued...

Much has been written about Shimla. So much so that sometimes I feel, this is the most over-rated hill station. Too much 'touristic', too much over-visited. Everything is too much about this place. Adding to this "too much"  is the burgeoning  trafiic & the hap-hazard construction. It is losing its pristine charm & is turning out to be just like any other Indian city, full of filth & chaos. The administration had the opportunity when they planned New Shimla. But they totally missed the bus. New Shimla is unplanned, chaotic with no basic civic amenities in place. When I compare the old British-era buildings with their Indian counterparts, I wonder whether India has any architectural style of its own or not.

Anyway, I am not an expert. The so called experts on planning have done the blunder & now it is for the common man to bear the brunt.

Seems like too much of criticism. But this is because I love this place and want it be be beautiful & orderly.

Municipal Corporation Shimla

After a supposedly short journey yesterday, that was deliberately made long, thanks to my new found hobby of photography(not really!!), it was time to explore Shimla. Since there is problem of parking vehicles here, we decided to leave the car at my cousin's home and try out other modes of transport. There are frequent mini buses by HRTC(Himachal Road Transport Corporation) running to & fro connecting Shimla Main with near by places. We de-boarded the bus near the lifts. The lifts are simple two sets of elevators  that take you to the Mall Road. The ticket was Rs.8 per person - one way. Mostly people buy one-way ticket only as they prefer walking down the mall road through array of shops down the mall road.

Walking towards the Mall Road

It started drizzling. Thankfully we had umbrellas with us. Since it was 15th August, a National Holiday in India, the Mall Road was fully packed with people. Walking uphill, we reached the famous Scandal Point. On a normal day one can view the Ridge, Christ Church, Gaity theatre & other monuments from here, but today the visibility was nil due to fog. Still there no loss of enthusiasm. It was quite a break from the hot & humid weather of plains.

The Christ Church

State Library Shimla

A view of Shimla Hills

After strolling for two hours, it was time to eat. There are lot of food joints, the best being Ashiana & Baljees   both along the Mall. Ashiana is a bit too costly & Baljees was fully packed. So the open air Krishna was our choice. It is not a restaurant, but a small shop selling different kinds of snacks. No doubt small, but it draws lot of customers due to its variety & quality.

There are many places worth visiting, within & outside Shimla. But since time was limited, we decided to go back to New Shimla.

Happy days pass like a dream. So after two days filled with fun & joy the last day back home was quite uneventful & tiring.

A new place next time...that's all folks!

Travalogue Shimla 14-16 Aug - Day 1 continued...

Previous Posts

Travelogue - Shimla 14-16 Aug 2012 - Prologue

Travelogue - Shimla 14-16 Aug 2012 - Day 1

Approaching Solan

At Kumarhatti, there are two ways to go to Solan. One climbs upto Barog & other bypasses Barog to reach Solan. Either of the two ways can be chosen. Barog is mainly famous for the Barog Tunnel, the longest rail tunnel on Kalka-Shimla rail section & the picturesque Barog Railway Station. There are a few good hotels in Barog , so you can spend a day in Barog & enjoy this small & quiet hill station.

We followed the other route. Driving on this road was fun as the traffic suddenly seemed to reduce. This is because the signage at Kumarhatti is not very clear, so most people follow the other route. Anyway this was good for us :)

The route is picturesque...

Bird eye view of Solan

On approaching Solan, the traffic increased suddenly. Due to the apple season in Himachal, there were mostly truckers on the road. One should be extra cautious while driving if you are sharing road with them. Their adventurous driving skills are well known & there is no point competing with them. At Solan, a speeding truck almost hit our car & it was sheer luck that saved us.

Thankfully we crossed the hustle - bustle of Solan; the weather become more pleasant, the road become curvy. What added to joy were the hills filled with mist. Although fog makes driving risky, but driving through smoky mountains are a different experience in itself.

At about 5 PM, the traffic again started to increase from the other side of the road, indicating that we were entering Shimla city. As we had to stay at New Shimla, we took the bypass road, leading towards Dhalli. On this bypass, I was surprised to see the newly opened Shimla Bus-stand. It is far-far better than the older one.

 At about 5:30, we reached our destination. But there were no signs of tiredness, as the journey through the hills was too refreshing!

And yes, did I mention that this was the maiden journey to Shimla for my cu'e li'l daughter Sarah...

Travalogue - Shimla - 14 - 16 August 2012

Prologue

I have always been fascinated by nature especially mountains. So, whenever get a chance, I retreat to the serenity of hills. Luckily, I live in Chandigarh which is situated on the foothills of Shivalik range, so mountains are never far.

If time is a restiction, then Kasauli is the best option to hang out. But if time allows, there is no better option than Shimla - The Queen of the Hills.

Related posts

• Shimla Day 1
• Shimla Day 1 continued
• Shimla Day 2
• EPILOGUE - Shimla 14-16 Aug 2012

Travelogue - Shimla 14-16 Aug 2012 - Day 1

Shimla is approx 3 hours journey from Chandigarh. However, we had lot of time, & wanted to enjoy every bit of journey. We started at about 10:30 in the morning. The weather was good. Although monsoon season, but it wasn't raining when we started. Packed all the necessary stuff. Since we were not going to stay in a hotel, instead my cousin was our host, so there was no worry even if we left out something.

i10 - Ready to Cruise

Reached Pinjore at 11. The completion of Zirakpur-Pinjore-Parwanoo National Highway has made travelling on this route a breeze.

Zirakpur-Pinjore-Parwanoo Highway

This road has been named as Himalayan Expressway. The rate was Rs. 23 for single journey and Rs. 34 for two way trip for LMV.

The newly constructed toll plaza.

We took a halt at Pinjore, where my cousins joined us. Left Pinjore to Shimla at 1:15 PM. I was eager to drive on the newly constructed Parwanoo bypass.Tourists traveling to Shimla by road will now be able to experience a smooth ride with the opening of this 10-km express bypass, which would help them avoid traffic snarls on Kalka and Pinjore Towns. This bypass is really an engineering marvel. It is a clear departure from the shoddy construction works that are common in India and shows that India too is capable of building  world-class infrastructure, provided no greed & political meddling comes in way.