Happiness!!! :)

Happiness!!! :)

Hey Friends,
Welcome you all on my first post(originally written for my first blog on wordpress in 2009.)

As I look over the lovely mountain ranges of Coorg (a hill station in Karnataka) now and sit down to write my first post, the look at the receding sun, which is now illuminating the clouds on the horizon much more than where I am seated, is giving me immense delight in sheer admiration over the saffron turned landscape. For the moment, I just want to gaze at the scene absorbing the fast diminishing warmth of the setting sun amidst the chilled breeze. The pleasure that this serene view made me experience , made me strike at the question-- "What is happiness??"

So, I thought what else can be better than to begin sharing ideas other than happiness...!! After all that's what we all yearn for in our lifetime and work to sustain it. But how do we recognize when we gain happiness?? Is it just the absence of unpleasantness?? Looking over the sunset I can tell you NO!! It is something that fills our heart and thus can never be a void.

Is it then just an illusion of language which needs to compulsorily have opposites (like to know cold heat has to exist. To tell what is light there must be darkness, however these are not two entities rather two ends of the same grading scale!!) or is it really tangible!!!!???

As we ask everyone have different associations , definitions and opinions about happiness... I will b happy even if u just read this post and happier if you compliment... So how do we gauge it?? What gives us more joy a kiss from our love or our mom....? Measuring emotions seems to be the most exciting challenges before us since long... So how should we go about it...? Does bunking class is more fun or attending sitting next to our craziest crush ever :) is more blissful..... If money is happiness then why aren't richest the happiest... If love in life is the secret then why don't all love stricken souls feel on cloud 9!! If success is the holy grail then why does so many successful mortals feel stressed out... Feel the voids of true identities in their lives, feel the deficiency of honest relationships in their existence... A close friend of mine told me once.... "...only thing that scares me about success is the fear of being alone, as the pinnacle is too small to accommodate all the loved ones..............."

India amongst happiest nations!!! Where is the wealthy US or Societal UK!!!! So the mystery definitely lies somewhere else... Are we looking in the just direction ?? Or still do we know what to search for??? Is it inside us?? Or is it us!!! Is it the comforts money can buy or is it the possession of it?? Is it our loved ones or is it love?? What is it that is most vital?? To keep fulfilling all the immortal wants or just to contain one emotion- "desire!!!!" That doesn't mean being non-ambitious or content or passive..... As one good prayer goes:

" Hey Almighty,

give me the courage to change the things I can,

serenity to accept the things I cannot;

and wisdom to know the difference. "

How does faith, sense of belonging and belief of taken care of fit into the matrix of happiness!!!???

This evening today has given me lots to ponder. I now lean back on my chair contemplating as to how can we put the pieces of this puzzle together! Hopefully by the time I write my next post I have some revelations to share with you. Till then why don't you too share your experiences and experiments with 'Happiness' and give your thoughts over the jig-saw.

The sun is gone now but its 'presence' is still shown by the shining moon, and the evening is over but its 'existence' is still felt in my rejoicing heart.

Luv n Luk :)

Being Pedodontist...!!! :-)

Being Pedodontist...!!! :-)

Being Pedodontist is no child's play!! :)

All good things come in small packages; to me they come small, unsure, whining, kicking and playful with their cuteness and innocence..... They are delicate and they are unrelenting at the same time, one moment they are calm and quite you and at just another they are off the dental chair!! ;) Usually they make life hell while treating them and the only reason you are not pulling your own hair is that you are wearing gloves but as they leave you after the appointment they very cutely tell you “thank you” with a smile as an icing and you wonder is he the same typhoon!! Hehe…

But actually it’s amazing to be amidst children whole day. They make sure all your work place rules are cosmetic!! Sometimes he comes to my table to show how wonderfully he has just done a painting in the play area, or at other instance she will tell how cute is the teddy that she is holding tight. :)
At times I play that “pakadam-paati” game to chase them towards the dental chair; and at other they quiz me with their sweet home work questions only to explain me the correct solutions soon after :)

“We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it.” said George Eliot, and it is the same childhood that I see in my guests everyday which makes me love my work sooooo much :) Childhood is the most beautiful of all life’s seasons and I am fortunate to have a pie of it every day and it keeps the child in me alive.

William Wordsworth’s "Child is the father of man" inspires me along our way.......
Above all nothing gratifies more than seeing a child smiling back at yourself.......

Luv n Luk always :)

My Visit To Opportunity School

My Visit To Opportunity School

On Thursday the alarm in my phone is programmed to cut short my trip to dream world earlier than on other days, and I don’t mind that a bit. Thursday is the day when I visit the opportunity centers for special children. I need to visit two centers; one an opportunity school in Madikere (or Mercara) and the other a special child center in Pollibetta, on first and second Thursday of every month respectively.

Today was my second visit to the opportunity school. So I already knew how wonderful experience it is to do something beneficial for these special children. It’s an hour long convoluted drive from my college through the Coorg mountains. So by the time we reach there we feel as if we are just coming out of a tora-tora ride!! :) But as we meet these lovely children we are soon energized by the enthusiasm and the sheer cuteness with which they come to us. The staff at school too is very supportive.

Today the first child I met was maria (name changed) a 4+ years old girl who manifests Down’s syndrome and deafness. What is making me write about her is her ability to connect to us just with her expressions… She had early to extensive carious lesions on her teeth and so it was decided that today the less extensive treatment would be rendered to her and as her confidence in receiving dental treatment increases we would give her the comprehensive treatment.

As I see her coming towards me, being walked by her teacher, I notice her sweet smile and then she holds my hand in a way that instantly makes me feel connected to her. Before making her sit on the dental chair, we started knowing each other and soon we were conveying with our gestures and expressions. As my colleague Dr Wilson was treating her, she found the most amusing gadget for herself, the dental three way syringe which has air and water outlet!! :) She would endlessly enjoy the air puff over her face and palms and making this a game we started with the treatment for her. Soon with this play the treatment planned was over.

Following her we treated few more children. Everyone had a different shade of cuteness. They very easily win your heart and you find their world very pure and full of selfless affection which inevitably makes you contrast it with the relentless world we are used to.

On my way back, as on my last visit, I was already missing their company and was desiring that may the next month’s first Thursday comes soon………..

Luv n Luk

Pranjal.

WHAT IT IS TO ENTERTAIN???

WHAT IT IS TO ENTERTAIN???

Hi everyone! :) Usually I write on weekends, but this one comes mid-week!!! It’s about a feel I experienced yesterday that I want to share, which is – WHAT IT IS TO ENTERTAIN???!!! :)

Yesterday we organized a fund raising ‘FUN-FIESTA’ in our college campus, for the treatment of an eight year old poor patient who suffers from ‘Infantile malignant osteopetrosis’, under the brilliant guidance of our Head of the Department. The event was a huge success both with the revenue generated and with the overwhelming response we received. But it’s not about the event’s success that I want to share today.

Today I want to share how it feels to give people an opportunity to have a great time. That, at least for some time, they forget their worries and break free. :) The event had dozens of stalls which included game stalls, food stalls, juke box and much more. There was laughter and giggle all over, there were youngsters exchanging roses, playing dedication music in the air and carrying delight in the hearts. :)

Concluding the event was a movie screening. Since I was still winding up the stalls outside, by the time I entered the movie hall; the movie had already been started. As I entered from the rear door I saw a huge crowd engrossed in the movie. That’s when I realized what’s ‘collective emotion’ is all about. We were all distinct from one another but we were floating on the same emotion. When we laughed, we all shared the laughter; when we were excited, we all shared the thrill; and on a sad scene we all the shared the disappointment!!! It was like this invisible thread tying all the pearls together. Looking over was mesmerizing. I felt immense satisfaction and joy over the fact that I had my own little role in providing so many people a memorable time……… :)

There I was sitting in the last row and a realization struck me. From where I was, I could only see a few hundreds of shadow hooked on the well lit, the so called “silver screen” lost into the story being told, forgetting their own momently. The realization was having a feel of being a part of entertaining people or as they put it ‘The Entertainment Industry’. When giving a few hundred people a cherished time gives this immense joy, I could only sit there and wonder the amount of happiness, the real entertainers of the industry like actors, musicians, must derive out of their work. They entertain millions!!! Of course not to forget that the money they derive is also in millions….!!! :)

Hats off to the souls, who provide us with an opportunity to break free in this stressed lifestyle, and who put in their hard work to entertain us. Yes, they make money but then can you really attach a price tag on your joyous moments???? :) :)

Luv and Luk,

Pranjal.

When You Can't Forget............. Forgive.

When You Can't Forget............. Forgive.

Have you ever being hurt or being disappointed by someone?? So much so that it still aches your heart?? Has it happened to you too that you want to forget one whole episode from your life, as if it has never occurred, and that’s when you have realized how sound your memory is??

Believe me; you have got a lot of company. I am sure many of us will have a positive response to these questions in some degree or the other, including me. The life cycle is a parabola. If there are ups there must be down curves too. And then, it becomes difficult to forget the people, the places, and the ‘time’ that lead us to those difficult phases of our lives.

We are very sensitive towards the ones we love and care. When someone with whom we don’t share a close relationship hurts us, it’s easy to forgive. But it's not so when we have been put down by a trusted one. So, it rots in our heart hurting ourselves the most.

‘WHEN YOU CAN’T FORGET………FORGIVE’ and welcome the new life because otherwise, such a feeling slowly turn into negativity inside us, which dampens our abilities and makes us bitter. How can we expect to be forgiven, when we can’t forgive?

Forgiving someone does not mean that whatever 
they have done is justified. It just releases them into the God’s hand to do the justice.It relieves us from that baggage. Let’s forgive and live light. Let’s not carry a heavy heart. More so because it also hurts the ones who still care for us. Life has to empty our hands before it can offer us better. Let’s not be so tight fisted that we are unable to receive even love. As a rule the parabola has to rise again.

So now, let’s drive away all the negativity, melt our hearts in love again, and put back our gorgeous smile back to enjoy this journey, where we have met each other, called………… “The Life”. :)

Luv n Luk,

Pranjal.

Journey in a River

Journey in a River

I was watching this clip today on Discovery channel, which was being filmed from a boat showing the Sun setting on the sacred banks of the river Ganga. The view was picturesque which later filmed the holy Ganga arti along the ghats.Thousands of lamps were offered to the ‘Ganga mata’ in a gesture of knowledge and enlightenment. They were floating ahead in their pendulous manner and after a while, disappeared. That’s when I was reminded of this analogy.Our life is very much like a journey in river. As the journey unfolds new scene (ghats) constantly appear before our eyes. The view around us is changing uninterrupted. Sometimes it’s bumpy rough waters and sometimes it’s pleasant. But once gone the view can never be lived again. It is like once we have seen the scene of our childhood we can never live that again.

Very often in this journey of ours we tend to forget that instead of us, it is the banks which are stationary. Banks are not passing by us; we are passing by these banks. But this does not mean that the views we just passed by now ceases to exist.
They are very much there somewhere upstream. Someday someone might see his childhood along the same banks and will wonder could there have been someone else; who experienced same.
Flow of the water is the time. We are moving ahead in time. Our destination is not in distance but it is in time.

So I guess, life is a journey in time. Generations before and after share the same land and horizon with us, only difference being, they belong to a different time. I do not know how precise this analogy is, but it certainly ran into me for a moment and made me share it with you………….

Luv n Luk

Pranjal.

Coorg Through Lens - 3

Coorg Through Lens - 1

From top left clockwise: En-route to Kushalnagar,Golden temple at Kushalnagar,Abbey falls, Talcauvery.