As You Are Reading This...

As you are reading this, a few things are happening in the world around us, all at once:

1. Babies are being born, people are dying and many others are ill or about to fall ill.

2. Couples are parting ways and scores of others are falling in love. The number of such people is not necessarily even.

3. Mothers are feeding their children, while themselves going to bed hungry.  Children are leaving their parents in old-age homes because they don’t have time to look after them.

4. Countless trees are being cut down for the newspaper that you will read in the coming week or the week after that. 

5. Some students are studying for their exams, some others are celebrating the end of their exams.  Some kids are browsing through bookstores, while many others are glued to the latest version of their favorite video game on their consoles.

6. Plots are being hatched by a bunch of humans to kill another bunch of humans because they are detrimental to their interest. Endangered species are inching closer to extinction.

7. Gazillions of liters of petrol and diesel are being filled into cars.

8. Artists are creating art, musicians are creating new music and rehashing old tunes, writers are working on their next bestseller, movies are being made and theatre is being enacted.

9. All sorts of products, articles and things are being manufactured or built; right from toothbrushes to ginormous buildings.

10. Waterfalls are gushing down hills in all their splendor.

11. The Titanic and many other ships and submarines are resting at the bottom of the oceans and seas, along with the beautiful marine life. Meanwhile, Lord knows what is happening at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

12. Sports-persons and teams are winning and losing matches, sweating profusely, concentrating furiously, and calling up on their years of practice and experience. The next breed of sporting icons are going through their paces, tirelessly honing their skills.

13. Youngsters are thinking about their next witty one-liner or meme that will give them maximum visibility on social networking websites. Pictures are being clicked with the cell phone pointing at the mirror.

14. Investments are being made, trades are being executed, deals are getting finalized, fortunes are being made and lost in the corporate world and financial markets.

15. People are posting handwritten letters.

16. Grandmothers are knitting woolen sweaters for their grand-kids.

17. Scientists are furiously researching, discovering and inventing. Astronomers are gazing into the cosmos, trying to unravel the innumerable secrets it holds.

18. People are dying of hunger and walking miles to get a bucket of water for their family. Corrupt politicians, statesmen and bureaucrats are plundering tax payers’ money into personal offshore accounts. Citizens are paying bribes to get to the front of every queue imaginable.

19. Engineers and IT professionals are tirelessly working on designing and releasing the latest gadget or software update.

20. Civic workers are cleaning sewage tunnels and pipes, the cities beneath our cities.

21. People are making love. Soldiers are fighting wars.

22. Someone else is reading this too.

These and many other things are happening at any given point of time. The next time you feel lonely in your misery or joy, remember you are not alone.

5 Library and Bookstore Thoughts

I love reading and hence, often find myself at my local library and in bookstores. The other day when I was at the library, I suddenly realized that I've always had these few thoughts about libraries and bookstores that have been floating around in my head since the time I was a kid.

1. This place is like a city in itself. Like an artists' colony. Where the best, also-rans and mediocre folks stand side-by-side, proudly flaunting their titles on their spine.

2. Don't these books get tired standing all the time? I mean, I'm sure they'd love to lie down on their front and back once in a while, like we humans do while sleeping.

3. I often see people picking up books from one section, say Fiction and keep them in another section, say Non-Fiction, when they decide they don't want to buy or issue it. At such times, these books must be feeling so awkward, being in another territory. Do the books of that  section give them the cold-shoulder treatment till an attendant returns them to their correct section? Or do they exchange friendly banter? I wonder.

4. What happens during the night-time, after the library or bookstore shuts down? Do they all come out and party, play, stretch themselves and then hurriedly go back to their shelves as the day breaks? Because I swear when I go to the library on consecutive days, sometimes I see some books on a completely different shelf than where they were the day before. Well, I now know this is because someone else must have shifted their place, but I was a kid when this struck me. Such thoughts tend to occur at that age.

5. Finally, this is the one thought that troubles me even today, whenever I step inside a library or bookshop. I can't help thinking how books must be feeling so very suffocated being shut all the time. Especially the titles which people browse through rarely. I look at them, standing straight and shut. I hear their silent cries, imploring us to open them and devour what they have to offer. At such times, I feel like opening each one of them and reading them.

Well, these are just my thoughts, but I feel we all should read more.

Wanting The End

I have some time, I can do this now,
But I'll wait some more and start somehow.
I have some time, won't panic yet,
And just like that goes another sunset.
 
I wish for some things so hard it seems,
I'll will them to me with my daydreams.
I wish for some things when I fully know,
That I don't deserve them without sweating the plough.
 
I know the answers that my questions beg,
I just condemn them into a sub-conscious corner instead.
I know the answers that my problems ask,
And yet here I am, masquerading in a mask.
 
I wish I could tear my mouth apart,
Reach down inside and pull out my heart.
I wish I could tear into that bloody mess,
And sort out these troubles that I have confessed.
 
Nothing will happen by writing these words,
By rhyming this broken glass' shards,
Nothing will happen by wanting the end,
I'll just have to buck up and start over again.

Freestyle fitness

If your aim is body-building, I'm not sure if this is the post for you. If you are looking to remain fit, strong and in lean shape, read on.

I am a huge advocate of doing freestyle exercises, rather than working out in the gym. Anywhere, anytime exercises, where the only equipment you need is yourself and the floor. There are four exercises which I feel are all that you need to get into splendid shape and remain fighting fit.
1. Push-ups
2. Pull-ups
3. Surya Namaskar
4. Skipping
Of the above, if you cannot manage everything, the least you should do is Surya Namaskar. It exercises all the muscles in your body extremely well. People who are on the heavier side can start with the 12-step Surya Namaskar. Others can do this version of the Surya Namaskar.
For skipping, you don't necessarily need a skipping-rope. Skipping on-the-spot whilst moving your wrists will do as well.
There are many reasons why doing push-ups and pull-ups is way better than lifting dumbells and weights in the gym. One basic reason is, when you are doing push-ups and pull-ups, you are in fact, unwittingly lifting almost your entire body weight; something that you cannot usually do while lifting weights. What more would you want? Imagine trying to lift bars or doing benchpress equal to 60 kgs, 70 kgs or whatever your weight is. Almost impossible!
If you can supplement these exercises with swimming, nothing like it. This is also for people looking to lose a lot of weight. Please invest in a pool membership, a good pair of swimming costume, cap, goggles and ear plugs. Learn and start swimming regularly. You will get instant results.
As to how many counts and sets of each exercise you should do, it depends on your body type, weight and such things. I'd suggest that with these exercises in mind, consult any physical trainer to guide you on this aspect.

Disclaimer: I am not a qualified fitness instructor. These observations are largely based on my experiences over the years in my constant endeavor to remain fit. I believe they will help everyone as they have helped me and many others with splendid results.

Today

We look back
We peek ahead
We strain our neck standing where we are.

We want to cover our tracks
We want a red carpet rolled out
While we stand on the quicksand of today.

We want one eye at the back of our head,
While the two in front gaze far ahead,
Not bothered with where we tread.

The ghosts of the past haunt us,
The uncertainties of the future taunt us,
But our biggest punishment is, we must live in the present.