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This entry is dedicated to passwords - passwords forgotten, lost, confused and locked!!Passwords galore - most essential but all different, alphanumeric and "complicated" concoctions! Uff!!

One of the ironies of this "independent" age is extreme, overt and essential dependence on passwords! We are living in paranoialand and suffering from paronoidism - all in the name of privacy, freedom, and security even if it means going overboard! You need a password for your PC, your SIM card, your bank account, your email, any and everything except ya maybe people! But then again, we have those certain magic words that "unlock" smiles, tensions, problems and worries viz., "sorry", "please", "hi" and even ":-)";-))Just as new age man-machine interdependence teaches you patience when battling with locked accounts , and hones your memory skills when struggling with multiple logins!

Here's to passwords or if I may rephrase, "simsim words" - they are definitely "key" to unknown lands, messages and conversations!:-)

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life!

That's my fortune for the day in orkut!

I don't know who pens these down or creates the randomizer that displays them but somehow these messages have a way of reaching the core of my being and pulling out a

"is really this true" or even "how did they know!"!!

Most times, we tend to ignore, un-hear, un-read all things to do with fate or destiny. Afterall, its best to leave it to the big boss sitting up there;-) Janke kya mil jayega..

But once in a while, in a very rare while, there is is niggling, irritating, and recurring feeling that something is amiss and we seek answers. We lap up anything, any insight, any perspective, any gyan, any advice, any opportunity that comes our way. We feel scared, vulnerable and unable to think for ourselves - we just want to be told...

Is it a reality check we seek, is it genuine respect for the other person's opinion or is it a deep fear inside somewhere that we may not, do not always know the answers..

Its called being human!:-)

Today, this message gave me the "aha" moment I had been seeking - end of the day, our time here is limited. And that is the biggest perspective of all. Nothing you do is permanent, no good or bad is permanent. It shall all pass, it shall all be, it is never too late and it may be limited but it is yet not over!

End note - "Today I went for a walk in the forest, the deep dark dense foilage interuppted only by the quiet mumble of a stream flowing nearby and the hesitant hello of a bird somewhere. Maybe a hi wont hurt, maybe a smile will make the frog's day and maybe a little bit of humaneness is all that the world seeks from us..." - Just the 1st few lines I penned for a WIP piece of "perspective":-)

Where the mind is without fear

Yesterday, 3rd December 2008, marked a watershed in my understanding of India's history as a free nation. After a long time, the country felt, breathed and spoke free - this was the biggest mass mobilization of citizens across the country. India was free and yesterday was a reminder that it still is!

5:40 - I left office, heading towards the Gateway of India. This drive is not more than 30-40 mins on an average day.

6:00 - Mumbai traffic saw my enthusiasm fizzling out...phat..

6:30 - Still going strong; the traffic that is! However, having crossed the marine drive, I felt strangely energized...People were walking...In groups, in such large numbers, all headed in one direction - my direction!

6:40 - giving propriety a miss, I happily hopped out of the cab and started walking. And I was not alone:-)

7:00 - Reached regal, the road to gateway was crowded and further down barricaded by the police for safety reasons..It is exactly at this point that I realised something - cellphones were not working!!!!

Imagine a whole mass of people, imagine college, school and office-goers all united, all walking, sloganeering and demonstrating...Imagine the "my cell-phone is my life" generation stranded and stuck with failed calls, undelivered messages and imagine NO PANIC!! That sums it up...It was big, it was crowded, it was diverse, it was anger but it was peaceful...

That is the spirit of Mumbai..Infact, after I got back home and saw visuals of citizens across the country taking collective action voluntarily - I realized that is the spirit of India. WE STAND TOGETHER, even if we don't do it everyday and at every instance. Yesterday, I felt alive, uplifted and humbled...

End note - quoting one of my fave poets...

Where The Mind is Without Fear

WHERE the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

-Rabindranath Tagore