Overwhelming!!

So I am sitting at a Starbucks.. Oh my god , so many thing to do before the Sunday ends. Actually before 5PM. Its already 3 PM. I am yet to finalize the art work for our product , that new project that's coming in needs to be completed in time- some serious planning required there , Library books need to be returned, What happened about that amazon order , Yes the spa appointment tomorrow , ohh planning for the thanksgiving shopping (I take it very seriously!) , India trip and tickets , oh that last week.... The US elections and the results , Indian Prime Minister shocked everyone by a bold step of 500-1000 notes.. Commendable strategy , moreover the secrecy maintained during the execution is unmatched.. How about  the 2017 strategy for that market ,  Remember the router needs to be changed , Shall I move to a new place? , Birthday gifts for my November , ohhh didn't post the card!

 , working on the market... The step count for the last week was very low. Need to run more this week to maintain the average..

Wait Wait Wait

How about this delicious caramel Latte that you are just sipping without even noticing the aroma or the taste.. Isn't this sugar too much for a person like me , who would prefer coffee with no sugar..

Its so easy to get lost in the chores and be overwhelmed and still not being productive. At some point everyone goes to that stage. No matter how well organized you are, no matter how proactive you are..there will be some point where you will be simply simply overwhelmed..Most of the times because of the ever-wandering mind! It just wont stop... 

I am just reminded of my mother's favorite phrase.. "एकेक विचार व्यवस्थित घडी करून कपाटात ठेव !" 

(Fold every thought carefully and put it in the cupboard , this is the analogy we have heard since childhood when the room would get messy.. The same applied to the mind)

How true is that , 

The analogy of a messy room fits perfectly to the overwhelmed mind! Too many thoughts and no productivity.. Busy being overwhelmingly busy! 

For now , I will close everything and enjoy this cup of coffee. 

आयुष्य म्हणजे नक्की काय ?

So here are two imaginary ladies (:P) talking to each other on a Wednesday evening..


A : What am I doing in life? Everyday I just get up , go to the gym , get ready , go to work , go back home , chores+cook , read , sleep and repeat! But where am I headed , where am I going?

B : I have similar feeling.. Its like we are on auto pilot. Nothing changes , nothing breaks. Good nothing is broken...


A : yes , I have no complains about it.. Actually I am really happy with everything these days.. But so what , what next.. Whats life?

B : I know , a million dollar question , actually a billion dollar question , whats life?

Then these two ladies keep talking about Life and whats life for 30 minutes

A : You know you are right , we need do something extra , to keep going.. To enjoy life.

B : Are you kidding me ,  do you want to say that we do not enjoy life?

A : Well absolutely not! We are few of those amazing people (hAHA) who live to their fullest. Who are always smiling , having fun , living in the moment

B : I know.. We are awesome!

A : But still , I dont know whats life?

B : Yes so true , I still think that there is more to life than this.

A : I know , btw did you checkout the sale on Ann Taylor? It looks good.

B : Wait let me check ....(a moment of pause) Wow , the blue dress ? Its $169!! But its so good

A : We think alike, that blue dress is so pretty , whats the cost after the discount?

C : Wait up girls , I have been listening to your crappy discussion on "Whats life" for almost 39 minutes and now you decide not to conclude it and talk about Blue dress?

A and B : Exactly our point , That's life!

The Infinitesimally Slow Progress

Sometimes its so frustrating to be involved in a process that shows infinitesimally slow.. I am a part of one of such activities. and trust me whatever efforts you put in.. Its still slow.. Very very slow..

That brings me to one of my favorite books , the Outliers.. There is a chapter in that book that talks about 10,000 hours to mastery.. supposedly if you practice something for 10,000 hours you will be effortless at it..

A few years ago , my kathak guru had said that to me once, you need to practice to such an extent that it becomes effortless. I have never forgotten that. Anytime I am at a concert or watching some form of art , I am reminded of her. Recently I was watching a YouTube video from one of the Pt Ravi Shankar's concert. A true maestro he was..I know it hurts , it hurts to play the sitar.. Its not easy to play.. It physically hurts to sit in a position , to maintain the pressure so hold it at an angle..Well this is too basic for the maestro. The point is being a part of infinitesimally slow process to achieving mastery in the same.. To the level that it seems effortless. Everyone feels they can do it too.

Like MS Dhoni's helicopter shot. He is so effortless that it seems easy.. But what about the years of practice that went into it.. That must have been a slow process too.

या ढगांच्या मागे चंद्र आहे हे मला माहितीच नसत तर कदाचित मी त्याची वाटच बघितली नसती
उगीचच बघितला चंद्र ... आता ढग कधी जातील आणि पुन्हा चंद्र केव्हा दिसेल याची ओढ !

पण जर मला माहीतच नसतं चंद्र आहे , ढगांमागे का असेना , आहे नक्की तर....
तर वाटच पहिली नसती मी त्याची ... थांबले नसते त्यासाठी ...

पण मग ते सुंदर प्रतिबिंब ... ते सुद्धा नसतं पाहायला मिळालं ना ?
शांत तलाव , बोटी , चंद्रबिंब ... आणि मंद वर ... आहाहा

कशाला हवयं असलं क्षणिक सुख .. नकोच ते प्रतिबिंब
नकोच तो चंद्र आणि नकोच आस , पुन्हा ढग दूर होण्याची !

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काय मजेशीर असत ना मन , हेही हवय आणि तेही !

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आज संध्याकाळी मस्त Ray hubbard lake च्या इथे जेवायला गेलो होतो आम्ही,... पोचलो तेव्हा सुंदर चारदा दिसत होता , पाण्यात  प्रतिबिंब सुद्धा दिसत होत आणि काही वेळाने चंद्र दिसेनासा झाला. भरून आल होता आकाश ... खूप खूप ढगाळ वातावरण !
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I was stuck in traffic sometime back. I could see the hotel from the cab so I decided to get out and walk.. I thought that will be quicker as I had been in the can for 50 minutes already and was really bored.

So I walk out of the cab with heavy bag , heels ,wearing a suit on the beach front...sweating and walking towards my hotel.. As I start walking definitely I am inappropriately dressed for the place.. After a long day , heels have already started hurting after a long day and the bag....blaah blaah blaah...

So in order to reach the hotel soon ,  I back my decision of walking saying - I will reach earlier and I can get some nice time on the beach.. Ohhkay ... Thats some good motivation... I am trying to walk faster just hoping to get some nice time on the beautiful Brazilian beach.. The stuck cars make me feel better about the decision.. Well I still can see the hotel... I keep walking and doesn't look like I have covered enough distance...

After few more minutes (Definitely felt like much more than what it was) I finally see the hotel closer.. Cmon Gayatri a little faster.. the thought of spending the evening on the beach is the only motivation... After a few more minutes , I reach the front gate of the hotel and guess what!
I look at the traffic and see the same cab driver there...

Ohhhh.. I could have just waited! And then I realized my moms typical saying.. Sometimes waiting solves the problems!!

Anyways the evening that I spent on the beach definitely made up for the sweaty hurting walk!

The roots and Wings Dilemma

Yes the roots and the wings. It is one of the dilemma that we have experienced at multiple decisions , situations..

मला पंख हवेत उडण्यासाठी ... उंच उंच जाण्यासाठी
बेभान होऊन खूप खूप उंच जाण्यासाठी
उंच उंच उडताना घर हरवलं तर ?
आणि बेभान झाल्यावर  पुन्हा भानावर आलेच  नाही तर

मला  मुळ सुद्धा हवियेत ... घट्ट  धरून ठेवण्यासाठी
हो अगदी घट्ट धरून ठेवण्यासाठी
इथेच तर ती उब आहे जवळीक आहे
इथेच तर पकडून ठेवण्याची आहे ताकद आहे


Well a lot of times, this crosses my mind and I am unable to decide what do I really want?  I wish I had both... I am sure you have been there .. this dilemma has been there since forever and ateast to me it looks like its gonna last forever!

कुरुक्षेत्र ते धर्मक्षेत्र

आयुष्यभर जी काही कर्म आपण करू त्याचा हिशेब चित्रगुप्ताच्या दरबारी  द्यावा लागतो असं म्हणतात .. कुणीतरी याच्यावर विचार केला आणि युग-युगांपासून  सांगितली जाणारी महाभारताची गोष्ट आणि त्याची पात्रे - ही लोक चित्रगुप्तासमोर काय बोलतील ? त्यांनी जे काही केल , ते का ? कसं ? अशी सगळी उत्तरं देतील का ? त्या क्षणी त्यांच्या मनात नक्की काय चालू होतं ? असे हजारो प्रश्न आपल्या मनातले .... आणि त्यांची उत्तरे !

मला महाभारत बघायला अगदी लहानपणापासून आवडतं .... कदाचित बाबांमुळे .... ते मनापासून महाभारत बघतात... आम्ही ते जुनं महाभारत (बी आर चोप्रा ) इतके वेळा बघितलंय की काही सीडी खराब होऊन गेल्या !
गीता आणि आजूबाजूचे भाग तर पाठ व्हायचेच राहीलेत....  कुरुक्षेत्र आणि त्या निगडित साऱ्या घटना फार सुंदर दाखवलेल्या
आहेत ..

आता पुन्हा वळूया धर्मक्षेत्रा कडे ... Netflix वर ही series आहे .... Its such a wonderful concept.. प्रत्येक पात्र आणि ते माणूस म्हणून , आई म्हणून , भाऊ म्हणून , बायको म्हणून , मित्र म्हणून , काका म्हणून आणि अशी अगणित नाती निभावताना त्याने काय योग्य केला काय अयोग्य केला .... याच विश्लेषण .. चर्चा ..... जे आरोप इथे त्यांना एकमेकांवर लावता आले नाहीत ... ते सुद्धा लावले गेले ....   कधीही न व्यक्त केलेल्या भावना ... न ढाळलेले अश्रू .... सर्वात महत्वाच चित्रगुप्ताचे भावना नाही तर तथ्यांवर चा विश्वास !


एक एक पात्र ,  म्हणून  येत ... द्यूतक्रीडेचा विषय आल्यावर प्रत्येकाच्या त्याबद्दलच्या भावना आणि राग दिसून येतो ... शेवटी  स्वतः कृष्ण समोर येतो त्यावेळी खोपा गोष्टींचा खुलासा होतो.. व्यास आणि त्यांनी  लिहिले ? किंवा विदुराची द्विधा मनस्थिती .... भीष्मांची प्रतिज्ञा आणि असहायता

कुंती आणि कर्णाचा संवाद ... भीम आणि दुर्योधनाची भांडणे .. Its nicely captured.. Well written .. Very focused

London Diaries

London - A beautiful beautiful city! I loved it to the core. Last week I was in London for a convention. Day one - I was jet lagged but super excited so decided to walk around the Kensington area. I got Prabhat road kind of feeling. (पुणेरी !!!! Cant get over Pune ever :P) ... Thats when I decided , I will walk /take tube and roam around London without taking cabs... It was so much fun.

खूप खूप भटकले , जे popular tourist spots  आहेत ते तर पहिलेच पण खूप चालले , वेगळया वेगळ्या रस्त्यांवरून ... खूप लोकांशी गप्पा मारल्या .... ब्रेक्सिट ची प्रदर्शन पहिली .... trafalguar square वर गर्दीतली शांतता अनुभवली ...  Buckingham palace , change of guards , Westminster Abbey आणि बरंच काही ! आणि नेमक Wimbledon च्या काळात तिथे असल्याने , wimbledon ला सुद्धा जाऊन आले... #TheQueue म्हणजे नक्की काय ते आता मला कळलं... Watched Raonic's game on Center Court , Serena/Venus Williams , Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis... It was a real treat.. I felt like a lost kid in the candy shop as I could not get enough of anything!

The city is beautiful , The history goes back to centuries and some of the monuments have been preserved since forever..  I wont be able to write much about the trip that the emotions/feelings/memories are flooding again...

And the "Furniture Fail"

So sometimes one acts out of impulse.(PS - This is just a general comment and has nothing to do with me :P)

Now so I wanted to buy new piece of furniture. So I went to my usual destination "IKEA".. Looked around for it but everything looked familiar. I am pretty positive that the reason for "familiarity" has nothing to do with endless IKEA trips we have done. (Vikrant can vouch for this).  Now moving on...

So the piece of furniture.. Lets call it a bed.. Now after looking at all kinds of beds at IKEA , I decided to try out other places..Don't want to name those but I did visit few places. After all this research , the creative mind decided to buy it online.. Although I had looked at similar one in the store, but this exact piece was not available on display. So merlot finish , sleek lines, the perfect headboard I had been looking for...and what not.... This is it.. The creative mind voted and I ordered this wonderful piece of wood... Now it was going to arrive after a week.. And then it slipped off my mind..

So after 3 days , I get back from office and guess what , These big boxes are resting on the front door! Now I had to leave and be somewhere in next 20 minutes so I somehow managed to move them inside and decided to worry about how to take those upstairs later...

So this elegant wonderful bed was enjoying the pool view while I was out.. That night I came really late and decided to keep it there... Here comes Saturday morning! So with all enthusiasm I unpack those boxes downstairs and somehow manage to get everything upstairs one by one! Moving on..

Yes! A Saturday project.. To begin with I manage to assemble the headboard , footboard and the frame.. Here comes the real story.. So now I am all set to put the slats and ready to jump on my new bed , thats when I realize that the slats are wrong size.. I try to put them in all directions but no luck! Now I decide to go to the store , just to find  out that I have to call customer support to discuss this..(Its already 2 PM!. I call the number to hear "Our business hours are Monday to Friday 9AM to 5 PM)! Who assembles furniture at that time!!

I decide to continue my journey.. And funasia decide to play a song from lakshya " Haa ye rasta hai tera!! " :) :)  So now time to buy slats.. Ok after looking at those , I have serious questions if they will work... Now here wakes up the creative mind again n solitude.. So next stop - Home depot.. So I ask them if they can cut the slats , it seems they cant cut it as it was not purchased there but instead this wonderful person teaches me how to properly cut wood.. As I said the creative mind was all awake , I bough the saw , wood polish and decided to cut the slats by myself.. Moreover I also thought , may be making a bed out of all these different kind of wood pieces is not difficult either!! (I am amazed by the creative mind and decide not to listen to it) (Its 5PM now)

Then I get home , have a coffee and convert the patio into a temporary workshop! Now I am all set to cut the first piece of wood just to realize the slats have been drilled at the ends in order to attach them to the frame... Hssssshhhh....All this stupid creative effort has been wasted!  Just glad that all the home depot stuff was still packed and not opened yet.

What was I thinking!! So I gather all my stuff and return it to Home depot.. Clean up all the mess and decide to call up customer support 9 AM Monday morning!! 

बदल : यमन ते काफी

या आठवड्यात राग काफी सुरु केला … गेले ६ - ७ महिने आम्ही यमन वर काम करत होतो….

राग यमन : तीव्र मध्यम  , आरोहात वर्ज्य पंचम आणि आता काफी : कोमल गंधार , कोमल निषाद आणि संपूर्ण राग

बरं no more technical terms.. let me get to the point !

आता फक्त हे दोन बदल पण मला सतारीवर साधी सपाट (सा रे ग म प ध नि सा) सुद्धा वाजवता येईना …. अर्रे बापरे … किमान  तास तरी मी नक्की चुकीचं वाजवत असेन !! कान , हात , डोकं यांचा काही ताळमेळ लागेना … कधी शुद्ध गंधार , कधी तीव्र मध्यम … कधी पंचम सोडून दिला !
यमन ते काफी हा प्रवास म्हणावा तितका सोपा नव्हता !! (अजून सुरूच आहे)

मला अजिबात वाटल नव्हतं कि हे एवढा गोंधळ उडेल माझा …

त्या रात्री घरी येताना  डोक्यात असच चक्र सुरु झाल…. एवढे साधे सोपे बदल उमजायला किती मेहनत घ्यावी लागते आणि किती सबुरीने घ्याव्या लागतात गोष्टी !

आणि आपली स्वतःकडून बदल पटकन समजून घ्यायची आणि घडवायची  अपेक्षा असते ! Over confidence!!! मला पटकन बदलाशी जुळवून घेता येतं वगैरे वगैरे  …. पण अस काही झालं न कि लक्षात येतं …. वेळ तर लागतोच … कमी किंवा जास्ती …. आणि महत्वाचं मेहनत लागते !

एखादा राग त्याचा थाट , त्याचे स्वर मनात बसायला , भिडायला वेळ लागणारच … instant maggie चा जमाना असेल तरीही वेळ लागतोच …. आणि जरी परिस्थिती ने सगळं काही घडवून आणलं तरी आपल्याला बदलायला वेळ तर लागतोच !

मला हवे ते बदल आत्ताच्या आत्ता झाले पाहिजेत किंवा बास आता मी नाही थांबू शकत किंवा एवढा वेळ कशी लागतो का कधी … असं सगळं म्हणून processes किंवा नशीब किंवा परिस्थिती यांना नावं ठेवायच्या आधी आता मी स्वतःला फक्त एवधीच आठवण  करून देणार आहे

"आठवतंय न काफी चा पहिला दिवस आणि बेसूर सपाट  !"

सहजच !!

असंच बोलता बोलता बराच काही आपण बोलत असतो …. त्या बरंच काही मधलं थोडसं !

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गर्दी

कधी कधी या गर्दीत माणसं अशी हरवतात कि पुन्हा कधीच दिसत नहित. 

खरा तर आजच्या "connected world" मध्ये  "untraceable" असण अशक्यप्राय वाटत 

पण काहीच अशक्य नाही अस लक्षात येतं !!

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विषयांतर

आज अजिबात विषयांतर नाही … पहिल्या गोष्टीवरच चर्चा …


विषयांतर यावरच विषयांतर होत मग! आणि मग कोणी विषयांतर केल होतं त्यावर चर्चा !

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गुंता 

कधी कधी इतका वैताग येती गुंता सोडवताना … नक्की काय केल होत म्हणून एवढा तो गुंता !

पण काय केलं असा विचार केला काय किंवा नाही केला काय , गुंता तर सोडवावा लागतो 

कदाचित पुढच्या वेळी गुंता कमी होईल पण झालेला गुंता तर सोडवावाच लागतो !!

आणि गुंता का झाला या विचारावर विचार करता करता अजून गुंता !

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पण … 

एखाद्या वाक्याच्या मध्यभागी "पण" आल तर त्याचा पहिला भाग सोडून द्यायचा असतो 

मी माफी मागते पण XXXXXXX

जर XXXX  तर कशाला माफी मागायची !! !

इथे सेल आहे पण फक्त या गोष्टींवर 

(आपल्या ला हव्या त्यावर तो नसतोच :( )

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आज मी लवकर घरी जाणार आहे…
आत्ता किती वाजलेत घड्याळ्यात ?

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