Thursday, April 30, 2015

Collective Consciousness Through Passion Blogging

Collective Consciousness Through Passion Blogging



This is a proud, and much awaited moment for me to not only give my Personal Blog a new dynamic make-over , but also publish this post which relates not only to the Header and logo that I have created for my personal blog. 

It gives me immense pleasure, and pride to firstly thank all my viewers, fans, and patrons who constantly read my content on various blogs, and keep interacting with me on those subjects. It is their inspiration, motivation, and guidance that has led me to create such a wide range of blogs covering various genres of topics and subjects. In fact this is what I will be dealing about in this Blog. 

Sometimes even a sarcastic comment or post by my valued reader can lead to a very big change in my thinking pattern for which I am always indebted to my viewers and readers. I clearly remember one of my very avid followers and friends who used to follow all my posts, and comments not only on my blogs, but my posts on Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin in others. In one of his posts he jokingly or maybe even sarcastically remarked, "How and why do you keep commenting or reacting to almost each and every topic or post on social media? Do you really know about the topic or it is just for fun? or to make your presence felt?".....As he was a very close friend of mine I could talk to him and convince him that it was my PASSION and not a pastime. I told him about my passion for knowledge empowerment and  sharing, blogging, writing, and interacting with like minded people. Our discussion which started with a small message on social media led to a long drawn but highly productive dialogue which resulted in both of us coming out wiser!

My passion for learning, writing, reading dates back to my school days as far as I can remember being always proactively taking part in every discussion or topic hunting whenever I had free time. This turned out to be my hobby and as I finished my education and started my career this became a larger passion. Although my financial position at that time did not allow me to do as much as I would have liked to this burning dream today comes out as what I term as "Passion Blogging" a term which I have coined my self. I was always fond of writing, drawing, sketching, painting, singing, and even dancing for that matter (Few people know that I took professional Bharat Natyam training from one of our very own Shohba Nadkarni for almost 2 years) and have performed in many dance programs too, besides singing in our community Mandals. 

The art and the artist in any human being never dies. At some time or the other this dormant desire spews out and; although I was always trying my hand at writing, reading, and knowledge empowering my data bank, it was about only about a decade or more ago that I seriously took up to Blogging using Google Blogger. Ever since I have not stopped. My passion for learning kept me going and I many of my friends and fans were shocked at how mulch-faceted I was a proud feeling for me, which however did take a lot of effort. 

I have always believed that if you follow your intuition with passion and a never ending zeal to achieve it, nothing can stop you from achieving your goal. Not only did this passion result in my learning what ever I could not only in my spare time, but as a professional. I would not spread open by Curriculum Vitae here for you but suffice to say that I have always kept my mind open to learning whatever I want. This led me to start Blogging and writing on a wide range of subjects and slowly and steadily there came a time when I had over a hundred blogs on various topics. Google is very sensitive about the content that is written, and so is their feedback to a good writer and publisher. I was fortunate to get some fantastic feedback not only from Google themselves, but also from a very close friend of mine who guided me to give only the best content rather than delve into every topic I could write upon. 

With a career spanning over 30+ years of experience in various Industries, this added to my experience and knowledge about both technical and non-technical subjects. I stopped at practically nothing in empowering my knowledge, in not only trying to learn various foreign languages like German, Spanish, Italian as and when the need arose, but also reading, understanding and accumulating more information about other subjects of my liking such as cooking, recipes, arts of various forms, psychology, self help, new thought theories, Metaphysical theories, applications of those theories, Scientology, and using my own Soft Skills and Personality Development skills to develop a base for what I called collective consciousness. 

I am sure you all know what collective consciousness is, however for the benefit of all I will explain in simple terms as the Wiki does and I quote - "Collective conscious or collective conscience (French: conscience collective) is the set of shared beliefs, ideas and moral attitudes which operate as a unifying force within society. The term was introduced by the French sociologist Émile Durkheim in his Division of Labour in Society in 1893."

I found this image which so rightly represented the concept of Collective Consciousness.
A new idea caught my mind, in that how could I use my skills, knowledge, hobbies and collate them along with those of other like minded people to create a society where this collective consciousness can be turned to the common benefit of mankind. Something that I had long thought about as a "One World" concept. I knew and still know this is a huge humanitarian effort to get this going but I was stubborn to go on. I new I had the skills, and the additional skill of my writing and blogging along with my strong Social Media presence was the right platform to get together like minded people to get together on a common platform. That triggered my "Passion Blogging" to a new level. 

That is what triggered off my biggest Blogging and writing session which has not ceased till now, and will continue until I have achieved my goal. This new goal is initially creating a Social Media Platform along with a proper Forum on Facebook giving a similar name such as "Collective Consciousness through Passion Blogging" - or taking the help of like minded individuals to create a wonderful name and platform to take this forward. From reading, writing, studying and creating hundreds of Blogs I then cut down to the best , so co I could concentrate on the main goal of a "One World" dream. 

 
Those of my valuable fans and readers who follow me already may be knowing the various topics I write on however I have created a Widget on the right hand side of my Blog page which mentions "My Blogs" giving a list of the other Blogs that I write on various topics. I keep updating the same so you are also welcome to visit those Blogs and record your comments.  It is when I realized the power of good quality content blogging when one of my most read Blog - "Vegetable and Fruit Carvings" indicated a viewership of over 220,000 viewers from over 190 countries all over the world and still growing. It is this that struck a chord in my mind as to how this could be used in a better way.

Coming back to the core issue of how I am looking forward to using this "Collective Consciousness through Passion Blogging" to achieve a "One World" concept or consciousness among people is my most difficult task which will be incomplete without your help, guidance, motivation and active participation. As I started blogging and publishing my articles on various topics, I had started generating a group of ardent followers, and readers each interested in those specific subjects, but later found that the same people were also tracking and following my other blogs. This gave me the idea that these same people could be used to spread the message of "Collective Consciousness" amongst the public. As we were all positioned on various demographic locations, both locally and internationally; it was even better, as I realized that I had now generated hundreds if not close to thousands of viewers and followers who were eager to read my work, and always happy to interact and respond to my work. What better platform could I ask for. 

This is where I once again thank each and every one of my friends fans, readers, followers on all social media platforms alike who have given me the strength, guidance, inspiration, motivation to continue to giving my best and rather improving it to the level that I am now standing at. 

I would not need to explain the concept of Blogging to most of our readers who are competent enough, but for the common benefit of the layman, in simple terms Blogging is an art of writing, collating and publishing quality content on various topics of you choice or specialization in the form of a Blog through various Blogging tools and platforms available in the market. Blogging can also be a source of Income for those who would like to take this up as a profession, and even the housewife who could spare a bit of her time to give her creativity a go, can use this platform, not only to express your thoughts and ideas, but also make a source of earning if it rightly done. I will not deal with the concept of Blogging and Earning from Blogging here but suffice to say that it can be a lucrative opportunity. 

Coming finally to the very core of the topic that I wrote this post about, I would like to conclude and summarize, saying that almost each and every one of us has some liking of a topic and skill which we can all relate to. If we can mould this creativity into a passion for blogging or writing as many do and present it in a proper way via your blogs, articles and papers, and publish it on various social media platforms we automatically create a following. This following slowly develops into a strong movement if rightly channeled. So my long standing dream is to use my blogging and those of other like minded people to submerge into a common platform where we share, understand, act and give birth to a new form of movement where we can achieve a common goal, whatever it may be for the benefit of humankind.

This post is just a sort of trailer or an eye opener as to what I am looking forward to. I have been reading so many articles, posts and groups on Facebook where people have taken up good causes, and are generating and getting very good results for a common benefit. It is this same impetus that I want to carry on and use to create a platform for "Collective Consciousness". Here I stress on the term "Collective Consciousness" as a movement to get together on a common subject through like minded people to achieve a common goal. I am now in the process of creating a wonderful Group to initiate this movement, and looking forward to your best wishes, guidance, and active participation. I feel that if through my writing, blogging and sharing of various subjects I can create a sense of awareness amongst even a few of our brethren I will have achieved a part of my dream!

You are all free to comment on the blog post directly or those interested taking part actively in this movement may write to me at goldeneaglebiz@gmail.com with Subject line - "Collective Consciousness" so I can tag your inputs together. 

Let us all make a concerted effort to doing the very little we can to make this world a better place to live in!      

Monday, April 27, 2015

Reading Between The Lines

Reading Between The Lines
Over the last few days, I had been doing a lot of reading and writing work simultaneously, for hours on end. Barely sleeping a couple of hours between days to pursue my passion for writing and Blogging. As I read, collated, and created my articles and also published them, I noticed a disturbing trend. Not that it was absent earlier, but I found a certain upward trend in the occurrences of this trend. What was it? It was not a single action or trend that caught my discerning eye, but a series of observations that led me to create and publish this post. I hope the readers will do exactly what the title of this post implies "Read Between The Lines" . I have not only mentioned each case separately but also tried to give my opinion and solutions to it. Hope you like them.

For that let me re-post some of the meanings of the oft overlooked or misunderstood Idiom "Read between the lines" . Various dictionaries quote their own meanings but let me put forward to you some of them which are more relevant for my topic of this post.

"Read Between the Lines means - 

"to infer something (from something else); to try to understand what is meant by something that is not written explicitly or openly. After listening to what she said, if you read between the lines, you can begin to see what she really means. Don't believe every thing you read literally. Learn to read between the lines.

or - Perceive or detect a hidden meaning, - as in They say that everything's fine, but reading between the lines I suspect they have some marital problems . This term comes from cryptography, where in one code reading every second line of a message gives a different meaning from that of the entire text.

or  - to try to understand someone's real feelings or intentions from what they say or write - Reading between the lines, I'd say that Martin isn't very happy with the situation.

or -  to find a hidden meaning in something said or written The report doesn't criticize the research directly, but you can read between the lines that the review committee wasn't impressed.

These definitions and meanings of the Idiom can be applied to a variety of observations which I had which are the very reason for writing this post. 

In a rapid and fast growing Social Media Crazy world, you will not be surprised every Tom, Dick and Harry making a run to create their own Social Media Profile on as many Platforms as could be available, without truly understanding the true importance of this Media, let alone what impact it can have on society and our social being itself. While each Social Media Platform boasts of having crossed a new landmark in Members registering under them, few of them are more bothered about the quality of members joining. This often results in the genuinely passionate and concerned members who are trying to spread something worthwhile through Social Media rather than hitting for numbers or "Likes" as they call it. 

I for one am not interested in the Numbers apart from any demographic importance on how many people are really reading or liking my posts rather than the quality and content of the messages, or feedback that I get. It is here that I was shocked, when I started analyzing deeply each post, comment or like. I found a disturbing trend, which I am trying to pen down here for all of us to understand, analyze and correct if necessary. I hope I will be able to communicate with your minds and convey the right message!


These are a series of observations so one should take each one and try and understand the underlying meaning. I mean no disrespect to any member or person, but this post is my ardent and sincere effort to make people understand the true meaning of communication and understanding one another or a situation.

The rush for "Likes" - Yes the rush for likes and having to see thousands of people liking your posts or content, coupled with a lot of Traffic exchanges and sites offering you money for liking a post or image has even worsened things. 

The first observation I had made was that a lot many people were 

"Liking the Images - but never reading the content" 

The first disturbing trend I noticed was , there were many images or posts that were just liked, by the same person. Interaction with your friends and fans is very important. When I took the liberty once in asking one of my fans why she liked a post she shockingly replied "I liked the picture so much". As you may be aware even when you are posting a Blog post we often tend to see the main image on that post which may be prominent on that post or a standard image which is related to that blog. The reason I always make it point to check the shared content of my post is that many times an irrelevant image has been randomly linked to the post. In that case I clearly go and select the right image relevant to that post and ensure that it is highlighted with the link of that post along with a small description. So when I got this reply, I questioned her whether she had read the post and what were her views. I was flabbergasted when she replied "What post? I did not see any post, I only liked the image". It was later when I explained to her that she realized what she was missing, just because she never knew about it. She went back to that post and read it and not only commented but sincerely related with the post. Please understand that every post has a link and description to the post which should be read to make the best of it. If you click on the image only it will only take you to the image and you may lose out on valuable information. After that incident the same person has not only appreciated my content but has started looking at social media in a totally new perspective. 

Please understand that each post not only displays the image but also has a short description either from the page of that blog or specially added by the person posting it, along with the link to that post. Please click on the link and read the post first as you may be missing out on some great content. You are of course free to post your comments, which are most invaluable. But just clicking on the image will deprive you of some great information.

"Reading through the Image and understanding the lines rather than just judging the image and commenting"

The second observation was there were a lot of people who liked an image but commented in a way which never related to the image or maybe they misunderstood the underlying meaning. This could happen either due to generation gap or utter lack of understanding of the content related to the image. I will relate this with two images, taking one image at a time. 



I had posted this image along with a nice description of what love actually means and how we should relate it in the right sense. This image too is very sensitive in the sense it takes a discerning eye to understand the true meaning behind this image and the lines that it expresses. I do not blame the layman or the common reader who would expressly take a different view to this picture and post an offensive or rather cheap remark. I had to delete/hide those comments, but not before I could make them understand the true meaning which they did apologize and accept, which was my true achievement. Many times you have to either have experienced those feelings or related strongly with both the image and the underlying meaning in those lines before commenting or even liking or disliking the image or content. But in this trigger happy or rather "Click" happy Social Media culture that is prevailing many not only miss out on the true essence of the content, but also malign the person who is posting it. Please relate, soak in , understand both the lines and image before commenting and I am sure you will see a whole new world opening up for you!

The second image was ....


As you will see this image too has a very strong underlying meaning, but possibly because of a single vulgar slang word in the content people tend to pay more attention to that word rather than absorb the true content of the lines the author is implying to express. Here the four letter "F@#$" word is used to stress and force the importance of the meaning rather than mean it in its true sense, which often people tend to find offensive. In my case I had been overtly careful in pleading the reader to overlook the profane word in the content, yet I was shocked to see few comments or likes maybe only because the "F@#$" word has had such a bad impact on our thinking and even use of vocabulary in the true sense. I think we should rise above all this to take out the essence of the words rather than get distracted by one word which does not in any way relate to the true meaning as in the dictionary or taken literally. Most of our readers are adult enough to understand this. 

Please rise above the literal meaning or view of what you see or hear and try to soak in the essence of the matter. It reminds me of a scene from the famous Bruce Lee film "Enter the Dragon" where Bruce is seen teaching a student, and while pointing out to the rising sun the student is busy looking at Bruce's hand/finger pointing out to the sun and he taps the student on his head and says "Look at the Sun and not my finger , or you will lose all its Glory"!!!! I am sure you too will understand!


"Rise above Petty Party Politics and Politicizing in hour of need"

This relates to some of the latest posts over the last few days where the whole world was getting together to help and offer assistance to Nepal after the Earthquake that has brought disastor to the people in that area as well as some areas in India.

What shocked me that while there were so many people genuinely expressing their feelings for the people, some comment on a post published by a News channel (one particular person for that matter)...was trying to politicize the issue  and asking why the government or rather the PM has not done anything or commented on the incident. I was furious and had replied to his post as had many others who were so furious with the member that they were asking him to be marked as spam and reported to FB. It is indeed shameful that while the whole nation, and people all over the world are trying their best to offer assistance and help, along with our own government, someone can have the time to even make such a comment. The same happens with many posts and articles when posted. Let us all rise about petty party politics and one-upmanship or credit mongering to hold hands together and work towards a better tomorrow for all!

There are so many articles, pictures, with captions and quotes that mean so much, but sadly most of us fail to see through the image or underlying meaning of the post. Social Media is such a powerful medium and we should make the best use of it rather than use it as a Friend making tool only. Yes these media are meant to expand your social reach and get to know more people but it also allows you the privilege of meeting like minded persons, celebrities and even dignitaries who may be staying continents apart from you, but share their thoughts and experiences with you. Take advantage of such opportunities. I am indeed so blessed to have such a wide plethora of friends from so many countries and professions who are always ready to share, help, motivate, suggest, comment and even push you to perform better. What else do you want? 


Let us grasp this strong quote in its true meaning. Anyone can write a few words, but it is those words that have come from experiences of various people all over the world, which when compiled together in the form or articles, books, etc form the proud literature that we all talk about. But if you are not able to "Read Between The Lines" as I say again repeatedly, they will seem like meaningless words to you. 

As you will see I have not named anyone in this post nor am I interested in doing so or taking up a "Personality Development Program" for those who cannot be changed, but it really hurts when most of those who are commenting or reacting are learned people. I mean no disrespect to any one of them as they may relate with my post as soon as they read it and if they read it.

The latest category of frivolous commenting or posting was the last straw that prompted me to publish this unfinished post which was lying in "Draft" mode for long like a dormant volcano. 

I will not put any image for this as you will all understand it very quickly as they are quite rampant nowadays. Many sportsmen, or celebrities, or even Hollywood or Bollywood stars are often maligned publicly with comments that only go to show the caliber of those writing those comments. There are even some pages that take pride in creating images that compare those personalities with various objects, animals, or even other people just for the sake of fun, or as they call it Jokes! Yes we do understand that you have a right to expression but please stay within your limits and do not malign any person publicly as they too have their own private life. Many sportsmen are the worst target of such belittling. A recent post exhibited an image that compared that sportsman's performance to the low average of a High end Automobile commenting that that car gave a better average than the sportsman. The persons posting or sharing the image and content totally forgot the whole story behind the life and efforts he has put in in making a comeback into sports after a battle through a life threatening illness. The same Page also frequently posts images which have really great social awareness content, but then tags it and modifies the image with small comments that malign religion, communities or religious sentiments. I personally un-followed the page and also reported it to FB as inappropriate. 

I first took up the matter with one person who happened to be my friend who had without a thought re-posted one of those images without giving a second thought to the comment that he was posting. I tried to make him see reason, and correct his thought process. When I found it was no use I only personally reprimanded him being a close friend and then deleted all the comments I had posted on his personal post and tagged it as "Don't want to see this post" and un-followed the page and posts.

I am indeed happy that he saw reason and immediately deleted the post as well as all the comments, while personally apologizing for the error, which is truly commendable. I feel it is the responsibility of all of us to share our views with those who post such comments and images in a small effort to try and correct them in case they are misguided or on the wrong track, or worst come to report it to the social media team to take necessary action. This is not a personal war or grudge against any one person but an effort to try and make our sharing and information, communication much more respectable and readable. 

There are a lot of other cases where many members waste their time and valuable web space posting offensive images with equally offensive comments, which we obviously don't befriend or follow, and I am sure the Social Media team on FB is reported to take care of it. Let us educate at least those who we can share our thoughts with especially the like minded ones, and make them aware of those small fine points like I have mentioned above where we can make this platform a better sharing medium for quality content, and empower our knowledge through better thoughts, and experiences. 

Suffice to say that it is only our efforts that will make a difference...but after all as this last image says ....if nothing works than I only have to be content with....

I say this because there are many and I mean no offense once again, who pass lewd or irrelevant comments on posts or images which they possibly have not truly related with or just copy the content from someone else and post it on their timeline. This can be dangerous and though it may sometimes sound funny as they are most of the time erroneous entries made in a hurry to get on to the next topic but can also hurt the sentiments of those related with the image or content. 

I can only faintly remember one post where there was a news of someone passing away, and most of the comments read "Sad to know, RIP xxxx", "May God give your family strength in this hour" etc...while some one possibly in a hurry using the cut-paste technique and forgetting to check before posting had mentioned - "WOW- Congrats" - "RIP xxx "...it is very clear from the formation of the sentence that it could have been a hasty post, but please be aware of what you are posting finally before you click on the "Post" Button! 

I will conclude this post by only penning down a few suggestions to all my loving readers, patrons and fans. When ever reading or scanning through any content do take some time to browse for a second on the totality of the content, be it an image or an article, before posting your comments or like. Give due credits to the writer, and if the content is worth sharing do share it on your respective pages or timeline. A lot of forget that all content on FB is limited to the audience that you select or the person who is posting selects. For example if I allow viewing only for my friends, public is not able to see it. But if my content is great and you share it on your page and your profile allows all public to see it you have automatically shared some good content to all like minded people. Most of us sometimes are unaware of these intrinsic settings and are deprived of some great content so try and educate one another. Be strong in what you say or want to see or hear on your post. If you find some one offensive or not in line with your taste try to correct them, and if not you surely have the option of un-following or un-friending them or even reporting to the concerned authority. A lot more points dwelling in my mind but will collate them and publish in my subsequent posts as they are related to a slightly different subject though all related to Social Media Posts.

Don't be click happy or like-happy and keep liking every image you see unless it is truly relevant to your likes or understanding. I may sound philosophical or harsh but let us make our reading experience and sharing experience worth it for all. And above all check before you click the "Post" button! 

Sunday, April 26, 2015

The Smiling Face of Life!

The Smiling Face of Life!

So many times we are faced with situations that bring us to the precipice of despair, resentment, disappointment, helplessness, and from nowhere comes a ray of light in the form of an incident, a flash of an idea, a whiff of fresh air in the scorching situations that turn the whole event in a new direction.

We often just reminisce through those days and forget them as a one off event, but when incidents like the one I experienced, come in your life they become a beacon of hope, not only for you in those disturbed times but can become a ray of hope for someone who may be going through similar situations. I write this not as an attempt to gather sympathy or crib on situations that I have been through, but with a sincere intention to share what may to many may be a डूबते को तिनके का सहारा (doobte ko tinke ka sahara) - "Drowning man catches a straw" situation.

I had a similar experience which I have posted as "Eyes of Life" which I will share later, but this incident is one that I will never forget. 

Life has been harsh for me over the last few years with various domestic and financial crisis hitting me like a Tsunami, so devastating that I am still managing to come out of its onslaught. I was in a deplorable situation, literally drained of all energy, mental, physical, and emotional to even think of any thing. Working away on my computer trying to make what ever I could from Work from home opportunities from the internet, which is my present biggest source of income, my mind was wandering to all grave "responsibilities" and "priorities" I had on hand for some reason which were evading me to be accomplished. Believe me with only Rs.10/- (Yes Rupees Ten Only!) in my pocket, a zero Bank Balance, Debts looming large over my mind, and the immediate priorities of the Bills to paid all due in a day or two, daughters college and class fees to be paid, and all these thoughts now rushing my mind like a whirlwind almost left me blanked out. 

At these times you mind becomes numb, but your heart is angry, because of the situations that you are in are no fault of your own, and all your efforts to get the present circumstances under control have failed, inspite of the most genuine and heart wrenching and gut splitting efforts you have been putting day in and day out. I am fortunate and proud to have a daughter who has gained so much maturity, maybe because of the situations that she has gone through, at this very small age, but more so a deep realization and love for me which has developed over the years ever since she was born, that trust, that blind confidence that I always have a way out of the most difficult situation that has made me stronger, and made her the very reason for my living! It is an inseparable bond that cannot be explained in words. 

As I sat at my computer totally lifeless, mind wandering in a haze that I was trying to clear with all the little strength that I had left after working for over 20 hours that day, I realized it was early morning an had to give breakfast to my daughter who had just got up after a late night herself, studying for her ensuing exams, both in college and her music academy. I quickly got up and managed to serve whatever best I could manage to prepare which she liked, and tried to create a happy atmosphere, not wanting her to feel the pain that I was going through. But daughters are daughters. She immediately saw through my face and was besides me ever consoling and motivating as always, saying "Dad, all will be fine" and in her trademark "My Daddy Stongest" style gave me a close hug. I am sure that there may be many who may already relate with what I was going through at that time, but I could do nothing by control my emotions and try to avoid the tear that was rolling down my cheek.

Somehow I got her into her daily routine, and putting on a smile, told her I would take a walk and come as I was too cramped up sitting for such a long time! As she had holidays for study there was no question of her going to college or classes for a few days so I was a bit relieved about my not having any money on hand for even the smallest of needs on hand, let alone her traveling expenses to college or class. It was really unbearable, and before the floodgates of my emotion could overcome me I opened the door and went down to take a walk. 

As I walked without direction towards a jogging park close to our home where you find all people gathering early morning for their daily exercise routines, and fitness clubs, laughter clubs, getting together it gave me some relief for a second, but not before I could wipe off the tears that were rolling down my cheeks, for some reason uncontrollable now. I waited below a Gulmohur Tree its yellow and read flower petals all strewn along the pavement, to gather myself, and take a deep breath before I could go any further. As I rested against the trunk for a second to stabilize myself, I saw this old lady who was sitting exactly on the opposite side of the same tree. She had a basket placed besides her in which there were empty packets, some of which were filled with leftover food, maybe given by passers by, and another packet in her hand. She extended her hand towards me with a smile that meant a millions words to me.

For a moment I was shattered, shaken, moved, touched, at the site of this old lady especially the smile on her face that was so piercing that it touched a delicate chord in my heart. She said nothing, nor asked for anything , apart from holding her hand up towards me as if pleading me to give whatever I had. For a long moment we were both staring at one another, and I felt as if I was staring life in its face! That moment meant so much to me. I was overcome by all different thoughts! What was this lady trying to ask me or say to me, as she had not uttered one word since my gaze landed on her face. I do not know how long I may have stood gazing at those moist eyes in her face, but somehow I felt she had given me an answer to all my questions. 

It was like the oft quoted " I complained I had no shoes, until I looked out of the window and saw a man without feet" ---situation where life's harsh truth faces you and hits you like a punch in your face. What was I complaining about? Lack of money, lack of good living conditions?, lack of happiness, lack of opportunities, food to eat? .......ok ok....yes those may have been the problems I was facing at that moment of time, but was I not better off than the old lady who had nothing with her, yet that smile on her face said everything that I was asking for in my questions to God! it was as if God had answered my prayers through her. 

For a moment or for that matter I still do not know how long I was standing there staring at the old lady, I had all the answers to my question. The biggest and strongest being "There is always HOPE"! Trust yourself, trust your integrity, and above all trust GOD! The flood of tears that I had just pushed back came back like a Tsunami that recedes at first but comes back with a vengeance so powerful that it destroys all in its path. But this time the Tsunami had wiped off all my negative thoughts, and left me literally cleansed, purified, and a lot more stronger! It was like I had reached out to god and my prayers were answered! 
   
The smile on the face of the old lady had not changed, as I managed to wipe off the tears in my eyes. It was as if she was saying, is that going to change your situation?, is that the solution to your problems?, come on wake up there is more to do than shed a tear.....!!!! I shook myself awake so to say, and for some reason my hands went towards my shirt pocket in which I had kept the only Rs.10/- that I had left with me (Feeling sad and hurt that I could do no more)....and handed it over the the old lady, slowly touching her shoulders as if bowing down in obeisance and reverence to her out of sheer love and respect. She said nothing, but her smile broadened and her had waved out to me in blessing as if saying Thank you, God Bless you!....It was a touching moment, as there was a sheer radiance in her face, that meant so much to me, and as I mentioned earlier a whiff of fresh air awoke me so to say bringing me to awareness of what was happening.

I did not go any further, but after smiling at the lady, and waving out to her I slowly walked back to my home despite the fact that I had not taken a walk at all. What happened after this still brings shivers to my spine, and a sense of assurance and fulfillment that miracles still happen in life!

I walked back home, and after taking a wash, and a much needed cup of tea, sat back on the computer to do my routine work. My daughter was up and running playing her favorite tunes on her guitar, and smiling at me saying "Did you have a good walk?....you should do it more often...Dad your paunch is growing ha ha !!!!"...Something had happened that had changed the very face of life and ambiance around in the house, and I smiled back saying yes, "I had a good one!!!!".

I opened my routine mail box, and also the sites which I work on and lo-behold I had a shock of my life! The first mail indicated that a Payment was sent to me by NEFT to my Bank for work which I had done over the last few days, and I had totally forgotten that I had requested for a payout, due to the overbearing situations on my mind. The second site indicated likewise, a smaller payment but nonetheless priceless for me. And the third had indicated loads of work being loaded for us to work on which meant more good work and more good earnings for me in the days to come! At the same time in a rush of emotions the face of that same old lady flashed across my mind, and at that moment all I could do was smile back in my mind and thank her!

I quickly got up and rushed into the kitchen to see if there was any food I could gather and take for the old lady. I packed a few "Chapatis, and some vegetable prepared for the day" in a packet and rushed out of the home, while my daughter was still shouting..."Dad, where are you going?"...and I quickly said "Give me a minute dear, I will come back and tell you!!!"... I rushed down towards the same tree that I had stood by just a few moments ago, my eyes yearning to see the old lady, so that I could offer her whatever I could, but she was nowhere to be seem. I was a bit distraught, and sad, as I walked around the whole area trying to search for her, obviously that she could not have walked away so soon, but my search was in vain. It left a void in my mind but as I came back after my search towards my home crossing the same tree I found a cow, its cute little calf and its caretaker farm dog that always frequents our area daily at the same time waiting below the shade of the same tree. I spontaneously went forward and fed both the cow and the dog with the same food that I had carried for the old lady.

I cannot explain the feeling of peace, solace, happiness, joy and content that my mind felt on feeding that cow, as much as I would have if I had fed that lady. Maybe it was God's way of saying "I am omnipresent in all that exists".

I walked back home and quickly narrated the whole incident to my daughter who winked at me with a smile almost saying "I told you so"....I gave her a big hug , thanked God for this wonderful awakening event, and got back to working on the work that had come. I was so content that I had now enough money to take me through for a lot many days, and work to strive for more....Was it a God given gift or a way of God to say - Trust me I am always with you!.

It also prompts me to remind you all that "When God closes one door of opportunity, he often opens many more for you, but we are all so engrossed in crying and cribbing over the closed door that we tend to ignore the new open doors of opportunities that he has left for you to explore" - Trust God!.

My eyes moistened once again, but now in joy , and gratitude for all that had happened, and my hand reached out as if to touch and feel that old lady in all thankfulness once again and through her try to reach God....and conveying a big Thank You!


This incident left an indelible mark on my mind, and to this day I cherish it and had to share this so that maybe someone who is going through a similar situation is given the strength, motivation and inspiration to look up to God and Trust him for what he is while also trusting yourself and your integrity. 

I pray to God to shower all of you with his choicest blessings and be omnipresent besides all of you as he always is to protect you. My his choicest blessing, Happiness, Prosperity and fulfillment be showered on you always! God Bless!