It’s not a sign, it’s a curse

We believed we are the center of this universe

But now, it’s only getting better for the worse

Oh, can’t you see, it’s not just a sign, it’s a curse

Nature has its own ways

To make us count our days

life is to love, only to love, it says

When at every step we only stumble

When the race is about to perish and crumble

All we can be is humble

Thousands have come, millions have gone

In the end, they only lived till their last dawn

It’s true for us too, we forget, that day won’t be long

The victory flags you wave

The heaps of pride you save

All your diamonds, of which you rave

What for? Nothing is here to stay

You could have kissed and hugged a little more, but now you can’t

Now what’s the point of all the medals you flaunt?

Covid-19 vs the fear of Covid-19

Never before has the world witnessed challenging times like these. The pandemic has forced us to step back and look at new ways of living. Social distancing, lockdown and home quarantine are considered to be some of the most effective ways to flatten the curve. But all this has also affected humanity psychologically in many ways. It has instilled fear in our minds. Let’s look at these fears closely today and understand how we can overcome them.

The first fear I want to discuss is that of a patient who has been tested corona positive. One needs to understand that corona is a virus and covid is the severe condition or disease that arises out of covid infection. There are many corona positive cases who don’t even have any kind of symptoms. The virus comes and goes, even without you realising it. According to some doctors and statistics, 80% of corona positive cases don’t even get hospitalized. Corona positive patients can recover by treatments and medication even at home. So, please relax and focus on the healing process rather than getting paranoid about the negative thoughts that emerge in your mind. Same goes to the loved ones of a corona positive patient.

The second type of fear is the one that arises in patients who are admitted, patients who have severe symptoms and the dear ones of these patients. Yes, this is going to be a difficult phase for you. Fear in such a situation is inevitable. All you can do is hope for things to get better and try being positive. I know it’s better said than done because fear of death is the greatest fear which I believe very few people can get over with. But by controlling your fear, you will invite positivity, which may help in faster recovery.

The third kind of fear I would like to discuss is the fear that arises in people who are not even affected by the virus. All the news channels, WhatsApp messages and forwards are constantly showing you the rising number of corona cases. This fear is completely avoidable. All you have to do is stay indoors as much as possible and take all the necessary preventive measures. You are only getting anxious for no particular reason.

Finally, I would like to conclude by saying that since most of us are staying indoors, frustration and anxiety are bound to make their presence felt as we have never before felt more caged in life. When you are feeling low or anxious, don’t close yourself out, speak to your loved ones about your feelings, take medical help from a psychiatrist if required. Depression is real. You can’t just brush it aside, especially in these times. While you stay safe indoors, it’s also important to keep yourself occupied in some kind of physical activity or engage in some kind of exercise. Also, the kind of food you consume can also have an effect on your wellbeing.

I know these things are easily accessible to you on the internet. I just thought of having an analytical approach to the fears that may arise within us due to the spread of covid.

Why is it illogical to expect someone to react the way you want them to?

You are simply a compilation of images that you’ve created about yourself and perceptions you have about others. You expect someone to react the way you want them to because you assume a lot of things even without taking an effort to know that person.

The matter of the fact is, no matter how hard you try to know someone, you can only try up to a certain extent. You have absolutely no idea how the other person thinks and how he/she was brought up.  You have no idea about the kind of circumstances he/she has gone through, the influences he/she had, the experiences he/she had in life etc.

Yes, it’s extremely difficult to break the image you’ve created about yourself and about others. There’s a lot of ego you keep feeding in the process. This ego keeps growing so much that it’s next to impossible to leave your ego behind after a point. In fact, we actually start believing that we are the images that we’ve created about ourselves.

We need to understand that these images are simply assumptions and not real. So, you really cannot except how another person is going to respond to you. 

The only things which are common among all human beings are the feelings of sorrow, hurt, pleasure, love, happiness etc. These feelings take different forms in different people based on their experiences, memory and all that we talked about earlier. When you realise this fact and control the image-making process in your head, you will ultimately feel at ease, because you are not expecting the other person to respond to you in a certain way.

Playing a sport is sometimes like meditation

For playing a sport, one needs to have the perfect equilibrium and coordination between the body and the mind. There are very few things that play in the mind of a sportsman who is in action.

For example, a football player is constantly trying to manoeuvre the ball correctly so that his/her team ultimately manages to score a goal.

So, if you want to draw an analogy between football and meditation, then the scoring of a goal is like enlightenment. However, the moment a football player thinks of the end result, he/she won’t be able to be in the moment. So, I suppose pure mediation is about being in the moment without thinking of the outcome. If you do that, you may or may not score a goal/ experience enlightenment. But as a player, this shouldn’t play on your mind, else you won’t be able to be in the moment and manoeuvre the ball like it actually should be.

Are we the one we think we are?

Human beings feel the way they are because of their thoughts, their feelings, their memories, their experiences, their own perceptions, their identities and much more. If we strip human beings off these things, will they be the way they are? Or can we even exist without paying attention to our experiences, or memory? What would be the content of human begins if they didn’t contain these elements? Will we contain nothing? Or is nothingness also a thing? Something that makes me ponder.

Stillness and effortless living

Fear is one of the most influential aspects of life that imprisons the mind at different levels. It overpowers our ability to think logically and ends up creating a mess in our head. Human beings, including me, have become so accustomed to fear that we think it’s a natural phenomenon. Maybe it’s natural, or is it? Let’s find out.

Happiness is a choice, or is it?

There’s a flip-side to everything in life. The choice is all yours, at least that’s what they say. Every situation, every interaction and every conversation can be perceived in a unique way. You can either feel bad, hurt and angry about something personal that happened to you or you could just turn it around and analyze the matter through a different lens. Fool yourself to believing that the more soothing perspective is the right one. This presumably, would make you feel at ease. Although, one could debate that this way, you would only be living a lie just to feel good. The question is how long can you run away from the truth, which could be harsh and bitter many-a-times?

Lamhon ke Kanche (New Song)

Here’s a song that I composed recently. Hope you like it 🙂

 

कुश्ती में दिलचस्पी कहाँ…

मुझे हराने की कोशिश न कर,
मै इस खेल में शामिल कहाँ
अकेला चला मुकाम ढूंढ़कर
कुश्ती में दिलचस्पी कहाँ…

In a world of notifications and updates

I suffer from it. And I am sure you suffer from it too, the only difference is that you are probably not consciously aware of it. In a world of social media, there is simply no end to information overload. The point is, do we need all this information? Most updates and notifications keep you engaged and entertained. They evoke all kinds of emotions in you. We have all become so addicted to information that we are always craving for more. Humans have a powerful brain and it can store in a lot of information. It can be triggered in many ways and can process an unimaginable amount of data. But, did our ancestors engage their brains so much? I don’t think so. They didn’t have the modern-day tools to do that. They relied on simple and limited ways to keep themselves entertained or informed. They found simpler ways to stay happy or satisfied.  The constant search for happiness and excitement can ultimately lead to a saturation level from where there is no way back. Or is there a way out?