New Journey

It is more than a year since I wrote on this blog. So many things happened in last one year. Some of the things were really tragic so I did not want the reflection of those thoughts in here. I always wrote this blog with the thought that anybody who is reading it, should feel happy, feel appreciation of small treasures and find inspiration and/or motivation. There are so many things wrong with the world, people and situations around, there has to be a place where one gets belief that everything ends well :)

Today I am writing this blog from Manhattan New York. Wow, right? Such a huge transition from Omaha, NE to Manhattan, NY. I think that is the magic of life. The life has its own turns and twists. Sometimes when it happens, we experience impossible. That's how my journey has been in last one year. I am not into divulging details of personal life onto a blog, so the story will remain private. What will become public are the lessons learned. Following are my lessons from last one year.

1. Always believe in your instincts. When the instinct tell us to stop and revert back, believe in it.
2. Always love family and friends unconditionally. When the tragedy strikes, these are the only people who will guide us through it.
3. If things do not go as planned, be brave and explore a different path. Who knows there might be a treasure hidden on that path. Always believe in the warrior inside you. Please do not give up.
4. Always take care of your health. When bad things happen and you have to be on your own, good health will help in your journey.
5. Do not wait for miracles to happen. They do happen but on the path which we did not think of.
6. The world is filled with both good and bad people. Once in a while, we meet two-faced people. Our job is to believe in good people and their love, care, prayers and thoughts for us. 
7. Do not assume that a person is good just because he/she comes from a good family or has good education. Some people acquire degrees but not education. We cannot change these people, possibly pray for them.
8. Do not think that people of certain age has accumulated wisdom. Some people just grow old.
9. Sometimes unknown people help us in our time of need. Be thankful to those people and remember that their kindness should be reflected in our own behavior for somebody else in future.
10. Sometime the greatest tragedy can be turned into the greatest opportunity, one just needs big enough heart to accept the challenge. Not every journey is pleasant but every journey is valuable.
11. There comes a time when we question our faith, our place and our values in this world. When that time comes, just remember this is also a passing. Without thunderstorms and rain, one cannot see the rainbow.
12. Trying new things, new cuisines, new places, new activities has its own value. Newness tell us how much capable we are of change. 
13. One last lesson, one becomes a better human being only if we can pray and wish good for the people who put us in tragedy. When that feeling appears in our heart, we have achieved a new level of self knowledge and love. Forgetting is the first step, forgiving is the second step, praying for those people is the last step, which signifies meaningful end of the tragic journey. We are now ready to embark on a new journey. I know that I am ready for the new journey.

With these thoughts, I want to tell you how much I have been in love with my new life. I am trying to enjoy every single day, because I know now that life is a gift from the god. Now every day is meaningful, every person I meet is valuable and every activity I do is interesting.

                

This morning I did something that I am really proud of. I ran a 5 mile race in Central Park. Running activity was very out of character for me, I guess last one year helped me shape a whole different character, for which I am grateful. I started running since February of this year. I ran a lot in Brooklyn and on Coney Island. Getting up at 5AM in February took a lot of motivation but I did. When I came home with flushed red cheeks, I knew I was on right track. Today's event was meaningful in a lot of ways. It happened around the same time as my one year anniversary of NewYork stay. It was also a testament of good resolve and efforts. 

I have something special to share with you this evening. My 5 mile finisher medal!!! Its a simple medal but it signifies fight of so many people who cared for me particularly in last one year. I dedicate this medal to all of them - my family, my friends and kind people who made this impossible journey possible for me. I am forever in their debt, a debt that cannot be repaid but only acknowledged! 

With Hope, Possibility and Love from Shilpa!!!!

Kehana hi kya

I was just watching my favorite songs on Youtube today. Bombay is one of my all time favorite movie mainly because of its music, handsome Arvind Swami, beautiful Manisha Koirala and marvelous direction of Manirathnam. I know the story Manirathnam wants to tell is more serious but that is not a topic of today's blog ;) It is the music that is a masterpiece by A R Rahman. South Indian music is so soothing to ears. A use of bell (Ghanti) makes it feel more spiritual somehow. I was probably in fifth standard when this movie came on screen. We had heard all the songs before movie was released. 'Kehana hi kya' was my favorite just because it had all three elements that I liked - Kathak dance, sweet voice of Chithra and meaningful lyrics. This song so clearly says what a girl is feeling when she comes to know that she is falling in love. She is fighting with that feeling as the boy belongs to a different religion but she cannot stop herself. This song is pictured on a background of a wedding. She is singing the song, teasing her friend who is getting married but in hidden way expressing herself. She knows that he is following her and she evades him every-time. Suddenly she does not see him around, her eyes keep searching for her lover. That is the magic of the song. By the way, this site has all audio songs and corresponding lyrics of this movie.

Lots of songs in Indian classical music are also hidden ways of telling how much a girl misses her lover or husband probably he is gone somewhere. Sometimes these girls wonder if he is with another girl, now their love hate feeling combination is wonderful. Its just amazing to note that intense feeling in the midst of Taana and alaap. How much lyrics play a part in the song! Thats why songs like Kehana hi kya will be fresh after 50 years and thats why we still listen to classical music after 1000 years...

Our learning ability

There are moments when I feel that I have completely transformed myself into a whole different person. The moments when I think in English and not in my mother tongue, Marathi. The times when I crave for Italian food and not Indian food. The times when I prefer to watch 'The daily show' and not 'Seedhi Baat' (Indian television show).

Still some moments arrive and make me believe that I still have some qualities that I carry from my family, city, state and country. The times in shopping mall, I ask myself, do I really need this thing. The times when I have guests over and I run between kitchen and living room carrying food items to check whether anybody needs a serving (not a buffet style). The times when I suddenly stop programming as Marathi song starts playing on iPod.

Why does it happen that some things are always much closer to the heart even when we go 8000 miles away from it or them? The answer might be that we have inner nature that never ever changes. I guess people change the clothes, names and even country but they don't change themseleves. In one way, it is wonderful. If one had a great childhood, good qualities imbibed do not go away. On the other side, we all become part and parcel of our past and almost unable to learn new ways and thinking. That puts a lot of emphasis on the way we are brought up, doesn't it?

Last saturday, I woke up listening to a Marathi song on my iPod. It's a great feeling to crave for music in the morning more than anything else in the world. That put smile on my face. Later the same morning, I tried reciting few shlokas from 'Venkateshwara Suprabhatam'. Why I don't know, may be because I wanted to experience the childhood again. I grew up listening to Suprabhtam in the morning. My mom loved playing it every Saturday. The funny thing is all the Shlokas that I learned in the childhood, I still remember those perfectly well. I did not learn Sanskrit in my childhood, now it seems quite difficult to learn new Shlokas. That afternoon I attended 'Thyagaraja Aradhana' festival in temple which consisted of South Indian Classical Music. There was a big group of kids who were singing in front of 200+ audience. They had remembered multiple songs really well and managed 'Taal', 'Laya', 'Sur' very well. This all got me thinking, how important it is to give all types of exposure to the kids when they have infinite ability to learn and grasp. I am going to try my hardest to learn Suprabhatam even though I have crossed the age :). Has the age taken away my learning ability? We will see!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving in US. It is a great time to remember all those who helped made us survive the past, who prepared us for future and who made our present so wonderful. I am thankful for my ever loving family, my caring friends and helpful colleagues. Collectively they all accept me the way I am (which is a wonder and height of their patience), still love and care for me, and that's why I am thankful here :) What else one could ask for? Thank you all!!!

My office is at the banks of Missouri river. Yesterday I was looking outside our window in the office. The weather was quite bleak and one could not see very far and it felt like the day to spend in bed reading a good book. Somehow all that weather got me thinking about connection between winter and summer. For some inexplicable reasons, I love winter. I like the time offered to us by nature to hibernate, to rejuvenate. Don't get me wrong, I love wearing beautiful sandals, skirts and flaunt as young woman but winter is the time when I usually prepare for coming spring and summer. I am futuristic so may be I look at winter as one good stop to continue for the journey to the wonderland of summer. This stop is so necessary to take because without this there will be no time to know ourselves. The summer offers us wonderful time to go out, jog, shop, party, do all worldly things. The winter offers us time to cool down, be content with oneself, find more about oneself and our connection with the god/nature/force. Have you observed that winter is the only time when you can see very far, beyond a lot of buildings as there is no greenery to obstruct your view? When just the leafless tree stand in front of you, you can see beyond it, you can try imagining horizons beyond. Why I love this time is because it offers me the vision to look beyond me and my current situations, place, friends. It offers me a view far far beyond. I like to take a lot of energy from future, imagining wonderful things and live the present much better. It also offers me time to prepare for the wonderful future to really turn into present. How can one pass an exam, without preparing for it? How can one have good food without somebody standing in the kitchen? How can a mother see the face of the baby without enduring nine months? Preparation is the key for the success in the future.

Winter has a connection with sorrows too. When we see a leafless tree, all one can think of sympathy for the tree. I like to think in a different way. When I see a leafless tree, I see its quite acceptance of situation, its firm stance on standing strong throughout the winter and its willingness to endure for future. Who really know whether a leafless tree will bloom into branches full of flowers soon, but why to care? The nature is the controller, why do a tree need to worry about anything? It's job is to blossom in spring and summer, turn yellow-orange-red in the autumn, get rid of essentials in winter and still hope for better future. What is true for a tree, is true for a human being. When sorrows surround you, all you can do is to think that this is just winter, survive it and look forward to another beginning. Whether you make it or not, you have done your job of surviving and being true to your nature of a fighter. Happy winter everybody!

Loss and Opportunity

In last few months, I read/watched really different books and movies. Sometime in January, I read a great book 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'. I was reading Khaled Hosseini's work for the first time. There are four sections of this book and I remember reading first section in one sitting :) The book is a story of two women Mariam - a girl who is unwanted child and Laila - who is princess in her parent's eyes.  In the story, Marium lives with her despondent mother away from the city. Her father visits her every so often but he is determined to keep Marium and her mother away from his real family. One time Marium decides to go and meet her father in the city, her father refuses to see her and the same evening her mother commits a suicide. In one evening, Marium's life has been changed. In few days, she gets married to an old man - Rasheed. In the second section, author depicts the story of Laila who lives in the same neighborhood of Marium. Laila is a beautiful daughter of a university professor. Laila's parents adore her and have lots of dreams about her bright future. In bad turn of events, Laila's boyfriend Tariq and her parents get killed. All her parent's dream get shattered when rowdies take hold of a city and at the tender age of fifteen, Laila is now forced to marry Rasheed. Now there are two women who had a very different past of life, are living under the same roof sharing the same misery. There are heart wrenching scenes when Laila is forced to leave her daughter, Aziza at 'homeless kids house' because they cannot afford to feed five people in the house, Aziza keeps crying when Laila leaves her, or Laila's hopeless pursuits of meeting Aziza and rowdies not letting her do that.  If you ever get a chance, you should read it to know what happens next.

Last month, I watched a movie 'Message in a Bottle'. The movie is absolutely fantastic in my opinion. In this movie, the sea, the fire, the songs, the lightening are all used really well. This movie has an excellent story (based on Nicholas Sparks'a novel), a soothing background score, picturesque cinematography. This is one of those movies in which tears will roll down your cheeks however resolute you are! The story in which a husband writes a few letters to his dead wife and passes those to the sea. The other unfortunate woman discovers the bottle. Now this bottle brings two lives together who have suffered one common thing - loss of someone they loved. The movie has same great dialogs too...

"I kept crashing into things, a little crazy, I guess. I've never been lost before. You were my true north." -  Garret Blake


"To my family...
...and to all friends and strangers.
This is a message and a prayer.
The message is that my travels taught me a great truth.
I already had what everyone is searching for...
...and few ever find:
The one person in the world...
... who I was born to love forever.
A person like me, of the Outer Banks...
...and the blue Atlantic mystery.
A person rich in simple treasures...
...self-made, self-taught.
A harbor where l am forever home.
And no wind or trouble...
...or even a little death can knock down this house.
The prayer is that everyone in the world can know this kind of love...
...and be healed by it.
If my prayer is heard, then there will be an erasing of all guilt...
...and all regret...
...and an end to all anger.
Please, God.
Amen." - Catherie Blake

"If some lives form a perfect circle, other take shape in ways we cannot predict or always understand. Loss has been part of my journey. But it has also shown me what is precious. So has love for which I can only be grateful." - Theresa Osborne.

This book and movie made a huge impression on me. Many a times we take things for granted - loving and caring parents, sufficient money, good education, healthy upbringing, in fact a power to make a choice. Laila, Marium do not get any of these great opportunities. They do not have any control on anything. Garret and Theresa's lives are dictated by fate. We take pride in thinking that we realized our dreams on our own. The thing is that there were so many factors that were right so as to aid our dreams to come to reality. When we don't understand and acknowledge those factors, we don't value those. After reading the book and watching the movie, I realized that may god make us humble enough to acknowledge everything without actually having to loose something precious...

Trek up the tower

Since March'2009 I have been on this journey of doing things that pleases me even if I have never undertaken that task before. I attended BMM conference, made friends, enjoyed the event to the fullest. I just got a chance to take my brother to the some of the biggest attractions of US (New York and Hollywood), drive 1100 miles in 5 days so that he gets to experience freedom that U.S. A. offers. I worked long hours to get projects done but at the same time enjoyed the teaching/learning process.

After all this I started thinking may be I should try the hardest thing that I can think of for me. I have never played any sports in college days. When you grow up in country like India, you cannot afford to be second best in school/college because every second best means something really precious lost. Most of us who grew up in 90's would agree that being best student means the best opportunities, the best promise to life. To be the best, you need to focus on one thing only and that is studies. Once you loose out on educational opportunities, there are not many things that you can do to reverse the situation. I guess in one billion population, there are just too many bright and hard working people that you cannot afford to divert your attention.

When you did not play much sports then participating any event that demands physical stamina is quite challenging. I thought of challenging this fact about myself, so I enrolled in 'Trek Up The Tower' competition. My colleague and friend Jeff was my role model. When you actually see somebody practicing what they believe in, it really inspires you. I think my thought was kindled because of Jeff's exemplary resolve.

Then came the first day of training. It was so bad that I was cursing myself for eating all those chocolates over last couple of months and the years that I spent without any kinda exercise. I also noticed that there a body part called as 'heart' and it really beats a lot when you climb staircase after staircase. I took it as a good sign that I have heart ;) After first session, I could not walk for three days. My colleague Elaine and our trainer Ryan advised me to take rest for a few days before trying second training session. When I did the second training session, it was all right. I think that was the day when I realized that I can actually do this. I was not sore anymore. Next sessions became fun. Making sure our group is ready at 4 PM, everybody is around, start doing stairs, count how many times we did it, forgetting the count and doing it again because we are not sure. I enjoyed the camaraderie of fellow trainees and their encouragement at every step (literally).

On last weekend, on Saturday I was driving down to downtown area and saw First National Bank building from I-80 and thought that I will at the top floor in few hours, who knew that dreams actually come true? I took 17:00 minutes to climb 40 floors. I was almost in tears that I did not believe that the journey was over so soon. I called up mom to tell her that I did it, I think she was more delighted than I was :)

What I really achieved in this event is that feeling that I can balance all aspects of life if I care to live all these special moment of life. I am thinking about that girl who used to get up at 5 AM to go to Math class, now gets up to go to Jazzercise, may be that girl has come a long way :)))

My mentor

I am watching Lord of the Rings trilogy again and again these days. Somehow my sense of quest for new adventure has escalated in last few days. I have understood that I cannot live a routine. I need every day as a new day, new experience. Last time when I watched this trilogy these many number of times was when I was preparing for GRE. GRE is an exam is an entrance exam that everybody who would like to pursue MS or PhD in USA, need to appear for. That was new exciting, unnerving experience. I never had English as primary language in my academic career and suddenly I was supposed to be quizzed on difference between abate and abet. Those four months of preparation were quite a trying. Sometimes I did not even know the meaning of meaning, so journey would prolongate to even learn one word. I enjoyed that journey, every bit of it. It opened so many new avenues for me, not just education, job but also understanding the world a bit more - history, culture of all these countries which contributed to English language. In my mind LOTR and meaning of valor, strength, courage, and faith in yourself is intertwined.

But the question now is why I am watching LOTR again. I have been working at my current company for two and half years now. These two and half years were some of the best years of my life till this point. Why? These years taught me the importance of discipline, modesty, team work, tenacity, respect, care. One phenomenal thing that I learned is seeing somebody who has all of this still working day in day out. That was my mentor - Vishal. I still remember the first time I talked with him on the phone - his manly voice clearly expressed the authority that he hold but there was something else too, he was actually eager to know me better. I was just one of the member of Java Developers team a recent graduate from graduate school. He was gifted with ability to inspire, to accommodate, to train individuals.

Next two and half years went in knowing what a great team lead can do. He showed me how to convert impossible to possible, how to challenge the problem and find many alternative solutions. I always saw him thinking of another edge case when code may not work, and spend hours in the evening to find solutions. He created the team that thought of future. He always came up with exceptional ideas. The funny thing is that he always had an excellent plan set up in his mind before even he started five month long project. The plan would include not just the people or components needed but the strategy to solve the most challenging problems. He would attack the most challenging problems first, get them out of door in five/six days. We would see him working 20 hours continuously. All of us would be stunned to see the miracles happening one after other. Our words would fall short of his praise.

I never had to go out of my work place to find new challenges, so was not needed to watch LOTR to inspire me once again. Vishal created new puzzles for us to solve, provided us the path to reach to the goal and he was so selfless that somehow gave us all the credit for finding the solutions. He understood meaning of sacrifice. One usually does not easily understand other people's sacrifice, unless that person himself had sacrificed himself/herself to a cause. When you work together till 3 AM together to complete a part of puzzle, you have already missed on all the movies/ TV serials, family life, food, laughter. The only thing that matters at that point who is awake for you and help you feel better, understand your dedication. Outside office Vishal was always fun to hang out with. We used to discuss politics, history. He knew so much about all these things too.

A month ago, he left our team to pursue another opportunity after nine years of 110% dedication to our team and our company. I will miss him as my team lead but he will always be one of the people who provided foundation to my professional life. Thats the gratitude that I will always carry in my heart!!