My Visit To Police Station

Today morning I received a call from a PSI (Police sub Inspector) attached to Dadar Police Station. The call was for me to come and collect my bag which I had forgotten in a Taxi.

The taxi driver a good Samaritan and a responsible citizen who had dropped me home found it out when I guess he was calling off for his day. I am now assuming that since he might be staying at Prabhadevi, he went to Dadar police station and handed over my bag to them, so that it reaches safely to its rightful owner, which is me.

As per our telecon I reached Dadar at around 1:15 pm and made a call to him. He did not pick up the call as he was in court at that time. I dropped him a message informing that I was at Dadar and where do I come to meet him. After few minutes I called him again and this time he answered that he had to go to court and that he will be back only by 4:00 - 4:30 pm

I had enough time on my hand so I took my Mom and my younger brother who were with me, to Mahalaxmi Temple and Siddhivinayak Temple. They are very religious and I thought why not make this time useful and take them there.

They had good darshan at both the temples and were very pleased. While they were visiting Siddhivinayak temple I went to the Police station. I asked my brother to give me a call on my mobile phone when they are done with temple visit.

I had to wait for sometime because the person (PSI) with whom I spoke was still to come. I must have waited for about forty five minutes or so there. While I was waiting I was observing everything happening there. I saw the people working there were very helpful and co-operative to all the other people who came by with whatever there reasons were. Not only they all the police personnel's but the overall staff were doing there respective jobs very diligently and responsibly. Not once did I see any of them behaving rude or being uncooperative with anybody who came there with there grievances. The over all staff was very well behaved and polite and helpful.

The other good thing which I saw was there adaptation to using technology be it e-mail, or whatsapp or text message. This person (PSI) had used whatsapp to get in touch with me while my phone was switched off. I had an envelope in the bag which was supposed to be sent to a friend and which had both his and my contact details, this helped him (PSI) to get in touch with me.

There was one more thing which I observed. Most of them were in a very good shape. Fit and healthy. I was amused at seeing all this. The image which normally is portrayed in films or the way people had perceived and talk about them was very different. Here I had my first hand experience and seeing and listening to them and the way they were all carrying there duty was really commendable.

I did manage to get my bag with all my contents in it safe and intact, after verifying my identity and the contact details. I was asked to give a xerox copy of my identity and address proof , which I did but not as hard copy as in xerox, but using online mode. Yes I shared it via whatsapp the social media application.

The experience I had there was something I wished to share and let you all know that police people are not as bad as they are portrayed or perceived. They are very helpful and cooperative and are very responsibly honoring there command of duty through there services. They too are like us and they empathize with us and are doing there duty well as we all try to do in our respective fields of work.

When I came out of that place I had came out with a sense of safety and security, and my respect and faith in them was elevated. Today in that police station I witnessed the change, a new changing India and changing people, all changing for good. They are also helping to make this world a better place to live.

I don't know how or what has caused this, whether it is our current governments effort in promoting technology in all government institutions, deploying steadily CCTV's  in all there offices and workplaces, on road and stations and all those places which needs constant monitoring so as to let us all know that we are being watched.

Yes, India and its people are adapting to change both in terms of using technology to its benefit and there behavior and attitude in the way they carry out their work, and this I am seeing happening in every filed of work. May be the governments slogan "Acche din aayenge..." will be a reality soon, all we need to do is have faith, patience and lend our support to them in whatever they are doing. Because only those in the highest echelons in the government knows what they are doing, why it needs to be done and how it needs to be done. One of the important pre-requisite of a good leader of the country is that he/ she needs to be a visionary and think long term and serve selflessly putting its country and people first, above anything else. Thus I believe will ensure the well being of all nation and its inhabitants in the times to come.

We all want a better and clean and progressive India, right? They are doing there bit, so should we. Let us all make effort at our individual level to act responsibly in all our deeds and help our country become on the Best countries in the world, let us all join hands to make INDIA, truly Incredible India....

P.S: After seeking his permission, I am putting the name of the PSI who helped me and the police station he is attached to where I was waiting and wrote my observations. The name of this kind man is PSI - A. Gadhave, who is attached to Shaitan chowky Police station, Dadar, Mumbai, Maharshtra, India

What is LOVE....

They ask me, what is LOVE?
How do I explain to them, what LOVE is...
when all they are seeking is an intellectual answer.
The fact however is that LOVE happens in SOUL.
Mind manipulates,whereas LOVE has its own ways,
of revealing and unfolding itself.....

                                                       - Nilesh Sharma

Being busy, is not an excuse....

I am not big time into gardening, but I do have a set of plants in my flats balcony.

Most of the time I am out for work so tending to them is not possible everyday. But I do like to water them and love to see them bloom and grow.

Yesterday I got this chance after almost after a week, and it was not very pleasant scene, they were dry and seemed to be dying.

I watered them tenderly and hoped for their revival. I waited patiently and checked them the following day. Yes they had responded and are on their way to bloom and grow again. The site was very overwhelming and filled me with joy :)

This exercise also brought to my attention how caring and paying attention is so important and necessary for all, be it plants in our garden, or people whom we love and care for,  and most importantly the people who are part of our daily lives. Be it at home or work or at some distant land. Talk to them often, be a good listener and be there for them if not always, at least whenever they need you.

Being busy with work is important but this can not or should not be an excuse to not paying due attention to the responsibilities one takes on.

My way of practicing this simple... I have consciously made some deliberate choices in life which in short says ... "Have less, give MORE"

Do share your story and feedback, and should you want to help me write more, please subscribe and share my posts. Your support is the source of motivation for me and fellow writers to write more and share their insights, observations and experience, so be generous :)

#lifelessons #beingbusyisnotanexcuse #studentoflife #nilesharma #havelessgivemore

Kalsubai Trek...

It was Friday evening and I received a call from a dear friend asking me if I would like to join her for a trekking expedition. It was too short a notice, but since I did not have any thing of much importance I decided to go.

We were to climb (call it a trek if you so please) Kalsubai Mountain. There is an old temple by the same name and the story says that a maid named Kalsubai climbed this mountain in order to escape the harassment and torture from her employer. She lived here on top of the mountain and after her death the temple was made in her honor.

Kalsubai Temple

My friend is from Nashik, while I am from Mumbai, so we decided to meet at Sinnar Phata. I took the State Transport bus that being more convenient for me. She had booked a cab and an Instructor for the trek all I was supposed to do was accompany them. In all we were a small group of five people, my friend and her 8 year old son, our instructor and the driver.

My Travel Buddies

The following evening we met at Sinnar Phata and from there we drove to Bari village, in Ahmednagar district which was about an hours drive. The roads were bumpy and I was relieved to find that it was a wise decision of not bringing in my car :)

From a far distance we could see our destination. "The Kalsubai Peak" stands tall at 5400 feet and hence is also claimed as the 'Everest of Maharashtra'

Our Destination- The Kalsubai Mountain Peak

We reached the base village Bari by about 06:12 pm and started the climb after gathering all the required stuff. Since we went for a night trek we carried with us the tents and the mats for night sleep. Also since its November and we expected some amount of cold we also carried winter wear and blankets. We were not very sure about food and water so my good friend brought a food basket which contained 3 packets of Maggie (Double pack), 16 Onion Parothas, few packets of Biscuits, Dry fruits, Poha chiwda and 4 water bottles. So with all this luggage with us we went hiking the mountain climb.

Although we were carrying torches to light our path, the bright moonlight from above the sky of the half moon was good enough for us to maneuver through the entire stretch. It was a beautiful night and the lack on any electricity made the whole journey even more appalling. Apart from one little incident wherein my friend have had a cramp while climbing one of the steep stairs in her left leg the entire climb otherwise went well. She did faced some difficulty after that, but she had a great will power and mental strength which I think helped her overcome the pain and move forward towards her goal, which here was to reach the top. We did make few stopovers every half an hour or so at small stalls put up by the local villagers. These stalls sold lemon juice, and tea, water, cold drinks, maggie, biscuits, wafers and cucumbers. To our amazement we discovered that they also rent out tents and you can also order food for yourself if you s desire. They will deliver it to you at the site of your camping if you are staying back. All they need is an advance intimation and good one and half to two hours to serve the delicious food of your choice (Veg or Non-veg). Had we known this earlier we would not have carried all the unnecessary stuff we were carrying :(

It took us about four and half hours to reach the top, and we put up our tents and a little campfire to ward off the cool winter breeze on top there.

Our little Campfire 

It was already 10:48 pm and we were starving so we all had our dinner. Since it was cold we asked the stall's man at whose place we were camping to make Maggie for us. He happily obliged. It was one of the best dinners... cold parothas with piping hot maggie... just the kind of food you would want to have on a cold night :)

We did not wanted to miss the view of Sunrise from the mountain top, and the climb too had us tired so we all decided to retire early for the night. I got up first and the clock showed 6:22 am. The morning sun was about to emerge out on the horizon and so I caught hold of my mobile phone and woke up my friend to see the magnificent view of the Sunrise. I could not capture the first glimpse of the sunrise on camera but did manage to get one close to that.

Sunrise from the Top of Kalsubai Mountain

After greeting the morning sun we looked around and took some pics of the surroundings, and now we could see in clear day light the little stalls, an old well and the Mountain peak of Kalsubai mountain.

Local Shop

I was surprised to see this well here so high close to about 5300 feets from the ground level and the water was clear and edible. The local villagers at times use the water from this well

An old well near Kalsubai mountain peak

Here in the pic below you can see the peak of the Kalsubai mounatin and up in the sky you can see the flag marking the place.

Site of Kalsubai Peak from our basecamp

We got fresh and straight away headed to the peak. Once there I was mesmerized by the view. We finally made it to the top :)

Mission Accompalished

Enormously deep valleys surrounded the peak on all the sides and sitting in middle on top of this peak was the temple dedicated to Kalsubai. The vastness of the place was something which took me a while to fathom. I have never seen a view as amazing and as grand as this. What lied in front of my eyes was sheer vastness which i fail to put down in words. The wind was blowing hard and the sound of it was something I wanted to capture and hence made an attempt to make a video. I hope you will be able to listen to the sound of it in this video below.

After absorbing all the glory from this mountain top we came back to the base camp. Had a sumptuous Kanda poha for breakfast with tea.

Yummy Kanda Poha 

Our host for the night who allowed us to set up our tents for the night and his contact details should you want him to make some arrangements beforehand your trip.

Contact details for Your Night Camping and Food arrangements

Now that our journey to the top was over, we took to the descending journey marching downhill. It was only when I turned around to see the view from where we started did I realize to what heights we had been only on the previous night. In the night time we did not get the understanding of the height but now in the broad day light we could see it quite clearly. And this did not even cover 30 percent of the ground.

View less than half way down from the peak

The iron stairs we climbed in the darkness of night looked terrifying in the visibility of day light. These four rows of the Iron stairs were by far the most dangerous points of this trip.Not that they were not safe, but the empty space in the gaps will probably make you dizzy. Unfortunately I could not take the pics of these so called stairs.

We managed to see the cuckoo bird while climbing down, sitting hidden deep in the bushes. See if you can see her too ???

Can you see the Cuckoo Bird ??? ;)

As we reached foots of the mountain we came to our first and last lap of this mountain. An old temple set up by the villagers. We rested here for a while on both the occasions while climbing up and then coming down. This I guess is the first resting place where most of the trekkers halt while they start the journey up and also while on their return, for us at least it was.

Local Village Temple

Although the journey ended but the memories attached to this wonderful trekking trip with good friends will stay with me forever in my heart and with this piece it will remain immortal. This was my first ever mountain trekking and I am glad I went for it. Of all the pics and story I shared there is one more last pic which I wish to share. This is my personal favorite from this trek, man approaching the temple (place of Divinity) with sun shining as if lending a Halo to all that was captured in this frame of camera.

The divinity all around

I loved this experience and look forward to going again at two more occasions, one on a full moon night and the other during monsoon. I hope you too enjoyed reading this piece and seeing the pics from this beautiful place and should you want to plan a trek there and have questions to ask, please feel free and post your queries, I will be happy to help. Also if you care please like and share this post with your friends and dear ones. 

#kalsubaitrek
#traveltalesofstudentoflife
#studentoflife
#nilesharma

Borra Caves - (Travel tales)

About two and half years back in February 2016, me along with my friend went to attend wedding of one of our very dear friend at Pondicherry. This gave us the opportunity to explore places around. There were about six of us so we hired a tourist vehicle and went to see two of the most amazing places. One being Vishakhapatnam (Vizag) and the other more adventures place was Borra Caves, about which this blog is all about.

Shot from Blackberry Smartphone - NileshSharma

Borra caves is located in Ananthagiri hills, of Araku valley which comes under Vishakhapatnam District in Andhra Pradesh. The caves is of limestones which goes as deep as upto 260 fts and are considered to be the deepest caves in India.This was the first time I ever ventured into a cave and that too this deep. I was excited and so were my travel companions with whom I went on this adventure trip.

Shot from Blackberry Smartphone - Nilesh Sharma

I was not sure what to expect, whether there will be any light or not ( none of us was carrying Torch light, thanks to mobile phones, which now comes with a torch) How will be the terrain, slippery or rough, straight or full of curves? How narrow or wide will the passage be? There was only one way to find out and that was to just go in there.

Shot from Blackberry Smartphone - Nilesh Sharma

As we reached the mouth or the opening of the cave, what I saw gave me a feeling of both the relief and disappointment all both the same time. Relief because there were enough light and ladders in most part of the caves, and disappointment because the fear of unknown was gone. The cave was nothing narrow but was like a huge space of vaccum, as we descended in the natural light was fading and illumination came from electric bulbs, with varied range of colors blue, red, yellow, pink etc...

Shot from Blackberry Smartphone - Nilesh Sharma

 As we went deeper the light was minimal and surroundings were showering the scent of lime-stones. The surface of walls was rough and was very new for my experience, I just loved it and was wondering how mother-nature ended up creating such profound beauty in places which til1 1807 was unknown to human kind or may be was not known to many. William King George of the Geological Survey of India was the one who discovered them in these deep valleys of Araku hidden amongst the vastness of Ananthagiri hills.

Shot from Blackberry Smartphone - Nilesh Sharma

As we ventured further deep into the cave we saw streams of water flowing and it was very fresh and cold. There was also a small temple inside the cave at place which was slightly off track but had steep stairs to reach there, only one person could go at a time.

Shot from Blackberry Smartphone - Nilesh Sharma

 At several places we saw the drops of water trickling from the limestones on the sides and from above. We were later informed that the Gosanthi river, originates from these caves and flows between the solidifies stalactites and stalagmites and thus the development of the odd shapes of structure.

Shot from Blackberry Smartphone - Nilesh Sharma

We had enough time on hands so immersed ourselves into the beauty soaking and absorbing every inch of this beautiful cave. We were there for more than three hours exploring every inch of this hidden marvel beneath the ground. As we were coming out we could see the day light in its full glory seeping in through the narrow opening on the roof of the cave, the view was just amazing.

Shot from Blackberry Smartphone - Nilesh Sharma

This was one of the best places I ever visited and look forward to visiting sometime again. The experience for me was simply amazing and out of the world may be because this was my first chance of venturing into the deep caves, whatever the reason be, I was glad I came here. 

 

Shot from Blackberry Smartphone - Nilesh Sharma

It was late noon and we were all starving because of our climbing and descending journey and also because of the fact that we started early in the morning from Pondicherry with only some light snacks. As we came out of the area out onto the road we saw people waiting for some local delicacy at road side joints. They served some mouthwatering and out of the world chicken cooked in bamboo shoots. Since I love cooking myself I asked one of the preparation and he said the marinated chicken is stuffed inside the hollow of the bamboo shoots and is then placed over the coals for cooking. It takes about 45 minutes or so to get this soft and succulent chicken preparation. After having our stomach full to the fullest we started for our next destination 

  

I hope you enjoyed reading this travel-tale as much as I enjoyed writing it for you all. Please drop in your comments in the comments section. This is my first travel tale on this blog and I wish to share more of such stories in my upcoming posts on Vishakhapatnam.

Thank you all for reading and do subscribe for more such wonderful stories which I will unfold for you from my firsthand experience, also do like and share so that more people know about this amazing place.

My friend is also my new teacher...

Meeting friends after a long time is always fun, isn't it ?

But if they add some value to what you are doing it makes the meeting even better :)

Today was one such day...

A very good friend of mine came down to Mumbai today. He called me and asked if I was in...

I did not have much to do and so when he called in asking about my plans for the day , I immediately asked him to come down to my place.

He came and we caught up on several things. 

He loves trekking and travel and has passion for it, and hence started his own venture and is now doing what he loves doing the most. Yes he too is now doing what I do, following one's passion. The movie #3idiots is my all time favorite and I learned some very good and important lessons for life after watching it, following my passion being one of them. 

My friend is an events organizer at Hyderabad Trekking Club -HTC and does off site programs for corporate clients and also for individuals in small groups on weekends in and around Hyderabad.

Having known this, I asked him how is he managing to get the crowd and all....

Although he had a bus to catch in about two hours, he was kind enough to share with me his learning's. I am very grateful of him for doing that.

In very simple way and just few minutes he showed me how he created his facebook page and promotes it. He gave me a tutorial on this and that helped me in understanding the basic idea behind creating the page and how it helps get a bigger audience :)

He also shared with me his other social media presence where he can be found and he was all over, and now I know his twitter handle is @itzmesrikanth , and click here >>> for his Instagram where he shares the photographs from his travels and events.

I was always media shy, so much so that I do not like posting even my own pics anywhere on social media or in personal collections of even my friends and families.

I started writing as a hobby and it turned into passion which I pursued and this resulted in my writing blog posts. Initially my audience were limited to my few friends and clients through whatsapp, but very recently I did took to social media platform.

I try to share my experience and learning's and want to help others in the situations who find themselves where at some time in life I was in, and the things I did to sail through them and emerge out as a better and wiser and stronger individual. The things which worked for me may or may not work for all but it will give the readers a certain direction to move forward.

So in order to reach out to a larger audience I took to social media and now I have my facebook account and have created a twitter handle too :)

Today my friend helped me with how to create a facebook page tutorial so that I can reach out to even wider audience globally. So yes, do not be surprised if soon you receive note from me about my new facebook page :)

But I first need to do some more researching and exploring and experimenting before I finally launch it.

Keeping oneself open to new learning's not only expands our spectrum but also is a great adventure and fun. And in doing so I can see the child in me again who is ever curios and excited to know more.

The journey so far was very exciting and fun, and I look forward for much more adventure and new learning's as I travel this path of life with you all as my fellow traveler's and companions :)

Please leave your comments on this page before leaving this page :) Thank you so much for reading this post and even bigger thank you for sharing this post with your folks.

P.S : Do watch this video in case you want to find out how to figure out your calling. I loved seeing this video.

Source: Priya Kumar youtube channel

#Studentoflife #friends #love #teacher

Woh ek tara

Chamakte chand ko tou,
har koi dekhna chahta hai,
Main dhoondta hoonn,
Uss sitare ko.....
Jo tim timata rahta hai,
Ghane andhiyaron mein bhi.

                                                        - Nilesh Sharma

PTA meetings ...

A friend called me today to tell how she raised some issues at her child's #PTA (Parent Teacher Association) meeting in the school, and now she is concerned, what if her child might be subjected to ill treatment from his teachers ?

I could see that she was worried and all...

I asked her if the points she raised were just her views or other parents also agreed to it ?

She said, others also supported.

Good I said, then what is bothering you ?

She said the class teacher with whom they were interacting was not taking the issues seriously and this lead to heated debate.

Incidentally the school's principal who was passing by the class heard the commotion and came in asking about it. 

Parents informed him what happened and the principal took charge of the meeting from there on.

He asked all the parents to jot down there concerns on a piece of paper along with their contact details and their kid's name and class details. He assured them that he will personally go through all of them and will try to arrive at a mutually favorable decision. 

Now since my friend was one of the parents who had submitted her issues/ points on that piece of paper along with details of herself and her ward, she is worried now, "WHAT IF" ???

Have you as a parent also faced the same situation ?

If yes, this is what I would like to ask you as a parent ?

Why is the concept of PTA meeting evolved??? Is it just for the name sake or is it truly a platform where in you parent and the teachers can interact with each other and try to acknowledge and help improvise your wards overall learning experience ? 

Also is it not the responsibility of the school to ensure that your child excel in whatever they do ? Please remember these kids are not just your ward they are also the representatives of the schools. 

When they complete there education and move out into the real world the question will come, where did you study ? And at this moment it is not about you but the school where they studied. So the schools image is also at stake.

School is the place where a child is taught so many things. And this usually includes imparting bookish knowledge, monitoring their moral conduct, identifying their talent and creative interest and chanelising and developing their recreational faculties. 

A school is not just a place to earn a degree, its a workshop and an institution where kids are prepared and trained to transform into not just good students and better human beings but they are also prepared to carry a certain level of conduct which will help the nation and the world to be a better place to live.

After your home, school is the second best place which not only offers education it also instills value system into your child. 

My humble appeal to you all, the members of Parent Teacher Association (PTA) [anywhere and everywhere on this planet]. #PTA meetings is your chance to interact  and work with each other and ensure that the welfare of your child/ student is supreme. 

P.S: This post is also my gratitude and tribute to all the teachers and the educational institutions all over the world.

Mausam ki Bahaar...

Paani ki fuhaar, aur hawaon ki guhaar,
Barsaati hai kudrat, humpe beintehaa pyaar,
Baitho jo zara tham ke, dekho tou khile mann se,
Har taraf nazar aayegi tumhe, mausamon ki bahaar..

                                                           - Nilesh Sharma

Lamha...

Jo beet gaya, vo lamha tha.
Jo tut gaya, vo sapna tha.
Jo thahhar gaya wohi apna hai.
Bas ise jatan se rakhna hai...

                       - Nilesh Sharma

Marriages are made in HEAVEN !!!

I have often heard the saying ‘MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN’ have you too??? Yes.

And if this statement is as true as it is meant to be, then why do people tie the Knot here on Earth???? 

Probably because it is the norm of the society. Everybody is getting married so I should too, right? 

Well I don’t agree. You may ask me why? It is because I have my own reasons to say so and if you want to know what makes me think so, then please continue reading…..

I am always interested in learning and understanding about lot of subjects and things of which I know nothing and the ones I am particularly interested in. So I ask questions sometimes to myself sometimes to others, and sometimes observing from nature all around us. 

The questions I asked with regard to Marriage are as below:

Who created this norm? The obvious answer was us the humans.

So why was this institution created? Probably because we were moving towards civilization, and civilized beings like to have things in order, or else what will be difference between humans and animal’s right?

Okay got it so far, so what is a marriage? This I asked to people, some friends, relatives, colleagues and likes in general. Almost everybody except me seemed to know the answer.

Some said marriage is a bond where two strangers come together and decide to spend rest of their lives together. Stay together take care of each other in good and bad, rich and poor, health and suffering and so many more things, the more I asked more were their opinions. Good, so what are the core ingredients of a marriage? Again the unanimous answer mostly came down to the following four things:

LOVE, TRUST, UNDERSTANDING and RESPECT.

Wow, now this is a sure shot recipe for a successful marriage and it sounds so right and logical too, isn’t it? So, my next question was, if people already know so much about marriage, then why are most of the couples not happy??? Why do I see so many sad faces of married people? Why are they not happy? Why are divorce rates going up? Why families end up as a broken family…..Why??? This is one side. But on the other side I also see some happy families too, very happy in fact. And when I look at them I feel as if they are made for each other. And looking at these kind of families and marriages, I understand the meaning of the saying “MARRIAGES ARE MADE IN HEAVEN”

So what is it that these people are doing differently which others are not because of which some are

happy and most of them not ??? Listed below are my observations, let me know yours:

When I observed closely, this is what I found common, in all the Happy Marriages. And it all works on the same four ingredients which I mentioned earlier. 

Each of the partner LOVES each other unconditionally, So LOVE is…

They TRUST their partner completely and support their every decisions even if sometimes they do not agree with them. They understand each other so well emotionally, intellectually and physically that they sometimes do not even need words to convey what they want. And lastly but most importantly they RESPECT each other for what they are and treat each other as equals.

 It does not matter who is earning how much? Who has what educational qualification? And who is managing the house? Each one shares the responsibility equally.

What all these happy couples do, and have in common is the knowledge, understanding and application of all the above four basic ingredients. So in my words, I like to put it this way, LOVE, TRUST, UNDERSTANDING AND RESPECT, are the four pillars on which stands a very strong building of a relationship called MARRIAGE. At least one of the above is needed to sustain a Marriage, and if you have all of them you will be one of the happiest and the best couple, the blessed ones who are made for each other “TILL DEATH DO US PART”. Happiness Forever 

New and Revamped....

Dear Friends,

September 16th, 2016 was the day when I wrote my first post for my blog and published it. I had shared it with just one friend of mine, then.

The idea behind writing the posts on my blog was to share my learnings and experiences, thoughts and ideas. I was not even sure if anybody would read them, but to my great surprise not only some of you read it but also resonated with the posts I wrote. We got connected and what started as an experiment became my second profession ;)

You all lovely people not only read them but some of you even left your comments on my blog. And a large section of you all shared your thoughts with me on my whatsapp messenger, email, text messages and by calling me on my mobile phone.

I am very grateful to you all for your act of kindness and I want to thank you all for keeping the connection alive, which in turn helped me going, and I continued writing.

Some of you liked everything I wrote and some of you helped me improve by becoming my critics. Thank you all for your support. The journey so far has been rich and fulfilling.

It’s been a while and lot of you have been asking me why am I not on social media?

So the good news is now you all can follow me on twitter:) My twitter handle is @Nilesharmaa

I have always kept my self open for new things, ideas, experiments and everything which I have not come across yet....

Writing was one such experience, I  experimented and explored and here I am now, close to becoming a professional writer of sort ;)))

Initially I had designed a very basic blog design, but today I have done a bit redesigning... Yes I do not know if you have noticed this but, I have added some new features to my blog design.

So whats new now ???

Well, to begin with I have changed the background, you will see serene image of water :)

To help you read on a particular subject I have added labels like Love, relationships, poetry's, etc...

And whats best part of my blog is that now my blogs can be read in OVER 100 languages... see "SELECT LANGUAGE" button just above the Title of the blog. (This feature available in Web Version only). If you are seeing my blog on mobile go to the bottom of the page, there you will get a link "View in Web" click on it and select your preferred language to read :)

So now, not only can you read my blogs in your preferred language, you can also share my blogs to your friends or relatives irrespective of language and country barrier and they can read it in their preferred language too. I just did that..... sent it to my Mom who prefers reading it in Hindi :)

So far I used to send my new posts to you all via whatsapp, but now I have added "Follow me by email" option... so any one of you who wants to be updated with my new post can just type in your email address and submit. You will be the first to receive my new post by email in your mailbox and this will ensure that you are not missing out on my new posts :)

You see I did not know any thing about these features but then I researched, explored, experimented and viola here is my revamped Blog :)

Send in your valuable feedback and any thing else you want to suggest to make this blog even better. It could also be a particular question you may want to ask, feel free. If I have anything to share from my life experiences I will be happy to help :)

And yes, please do not forget to key in your email address for my future posts....

Love is Freedom...

LOVE without any reason,
LOVE without any conditions,
LOVE without any limitations

LOVE without any Expectations,

In freedom LOVE resides,
In LOVE I see PARADISE...

Selfless LOVE …..

Recently a good friend of mine asked me something, which most of us ask to ourselves as well as others at some point of time in life.

Is it possible to LOVE somebody SELFLESSLY?

This is a very deep, meaningful and thought provoking question, isn’t it?

The answer to this is both simple yet difficult. It is simple to understand yet very difficult to accept and even more difficult to practice.

To begin with first of please know this, that LOVE is everywhere. It is all around us but we seldom notice and acknowledge it.

How, you may ask? Well let me try to explain it with the help of taking Natures example.

Nature is a very good example of SELFLESS LOVE. Our loving or hating does not affect its serving.

The sunlight is very important for us and sun everyday does so when it showers it’s sunlight on us and it do not expect anything in return. Sunrise and sunsets are both considered to be the most beautiful phase and almost everybody just adores the beauty of sun at these times. But at the peak of afternoon the same sun almost burns us.

Like everything else the sun too passes through a cycle wherein it is very cool when it rises and then its heat becomes unbearable as it rises to its peak and then again it starts mellowing down eventually, leading to a beautiful sunset.

So even though sun which is acknowledged and praised for its beautiful Sunrise and Sunsets, the same sun is being cursed for the heat it throws at us during the peak of afternoon. When its summer we wish for rain or winter, when it starts raining we wish it were summer or winter, while in winter we pray for summer. Isn’t it.

So who is to be blamed the sun, or rain or winter?

I feel no one should be blamed. We all just need to have the grace and humility to accept and acknowledge it as it is. It will perform its function the way it is meant to be, that was how it was in past, it is now and will be in future. Our being happy or sad with them will not make them change how they function. But as humans we have the gift and capability to change ourselves and our attitude at looking at everything.

Sun, Moon, Water, Earth, Plants, Air are supreme examples of selfless love. But then love is not just sweet always it comes with its bitterness as well. And we absolutely cannot change a thing about it.

As with sun, Moonlight is important at night, it helps one navigate the path in the dark (but today thanks to technology we do not even give Moon the credit it deserves on a dark night). Water quenches our thirst, yet the same water has brought tsunamis and have caused havoc. Earth offers us its body on which we make roads and buildings, yet at times it caves in. Plants and trees offers us medicine and fruits and vegetables and yet we are ruthlessly choping them off. Air which brings in cool breeze, at times turns into violent storm which destroys everything that comes in its path.

We as humans too go through this same kind of phases which we know and understand as emotions. Sometimes we are happy sometimes we are sad, sometimes we laugh and sometimes we cry, sometimes we love sometimes we hate, sometimes we praise yet at several occasions we curse.

So even when we are the same person don’t we all go through these phases. This is how we are designed and this how everybody and everything around us is. We all pass through various emotional phases under various circumstances, and that reflects in the way we react to them.

When we look at others as we are and if we develop the ability to accept them as they are without trying to change them, we will be at peace.

And the day we will learn to acknowledge and appreciate the other person the way they are, we will be able to LOVE SELFLESSLY. However, if we fail to develop this sense of gratitude, then the same love will become a cause of pain, misery, curse and everything else. It will garner negativity in our soul and negativity only destroys it never blooms.

LOVE is one of the most powerful emotion and each of us is equally capable of LOVING everyone else selflessly, but it needs a sense of awareness, realization, patience and above all practice to remain that way always.

Expecting others to LOVE us back is not selfless LOVE. It then will become a business transaction. 

Super saleswoman….

The other day I was travelling by train to some place. I always carry a book with me when I am travelling and not driving.

On this day too I had a book with me. It was about an hour’s journey. Most of my fellow travelers were engrossed in their mobile screens with earphones on. Some were playing games, others watching movies and some listening to music. And then there were some who were sleeping and few others were just watching here and there.

During the journey lots of vendors came, all trying to sell something or the other. In order to attract attention these people usually say things loud enough about their products and promote them to all travelers around them. Anyone who is interested in the product see it, and if liked buy them.

Although I was into my book reading throughout the journey, I managed to hear them coming and going because of their loud speeches.

Just about five minutes before my stop was to come, I closed the book and looked around. And what I saw, just amazed me. There was a lady selling some sweets and toffees.

You might say so what’s so unusual about it. There was something very special about her, please continue reading……

What was very unusual about this lady was that she was not saying anything at all to sell the sweets and toffees, yet I saw some people buying them. I was a little surprised and puzzled as well. I paid attention and observed her for few moments. Soon I realized she was mute.

So how did she manage to make a sale? This is what she did.

She held the sweets and toffee bag (not a very big one, there were about half a kilogram of sweets and toffee in it) in her right hand, and walked in front of the travelers, shook and thrust the hand which held the bag containing sweets and toffes in front of their eyes and managed to take out a very feeble voice which was more like a grumble as in like Unmmmm, unmmm.

People would look at her first and then at her hand and would understand that she were trying to sell the sweets. Some bought them, some simply ignored, and some looked away.

A sales person is usually the one who is known for his talks and use of sweet tongue, but here was this lady who without even saying anything was making the sales and a livelihood. 

This lady did not allow her disability to earn a living out of pity of others, instead she used her eyes, hands and smile to compensate for what she lacked. There was only one feeling which I felt for that lady at that moment and it was, immense amount of RESPECT.

My station came and I alighted from the train, but not without buying sweets from her :)

Does being Famous means, they are the only BEST....

Really???

Do you all really think that the famous is the only BEST? The more you pay the best you get?

I don’t think so.

Lata Mangeshkar, Amitabh Bachhan, Sachin Tendulkar, Sania Mirza, Gulzar Sahab and many more who are famous, they all are the synonyms to the BEST in whatever field they are. No two ways about that. But are they the only best?

There are so many good singers, actors, players, poets and others who are out their, giving their best.

So why do we always vouch for only those who have established or have made name?

There are so many talented people all around us but do we care to recognize and/ or acknowledge them.

I personally know so many people who are delivering their best in the field that they are in, but they are not craving for any fame or recognition. Nor are they doing what they know best for the sake of money. They just do what they do, because that is the only best way that they know to do it. To deliver, to help, to be of service, and to be useful.

Now why I am blabbering about this?

Well I have a reason and I want you all to know about it.

This is a very recent incident, and a story which happened with one of my clients. He and his wife are both doctors (General Physicians) and they are doing well in their field. And they are known, admired and respected for their work.

Their son was diagnosed with Hernia and he was supposed to be operated. Now being doctors themselves they were having enough contacts and doctor friends who could have performed this simple surgery, but they wanted the BEST. So the doctor they zeroed down was one of the most renowned doctors of India. 

Before they went there, he of course consulted me and I recommended to him a very good hospital in Thane which is run by a charitable trust and I have had some of my other clients treated there and who had given me a very positive feedback with regard to the hospital, doctors, staff and the procedure and all. I suggested him to visit that hospital atleast once, before taking a final call.

They did not go there.

Instead they went for the doctor they wished to go. The surgery was scheduled, it was to be performed in not to mention one of the FIVE STAR hospitals in Thane. The estimate for the whole procedure for two days was 1.63 lakhs. Now because this was a pre-scheduled surgery and since this client of mine had a Health insurance plan he registered himself for the cashless hospitalization procedure, a week before the surgery.

To his shock the claim for cashless facility was rejected. He asked me why the claim was rejected and I explained to him that at times even if the hospital is on panel and cashless procedures can happen the claim can be rejected, but then we can file for the reimbursement. But for that to happen, first you need to go ahead with the procedure, pay the money upfront from your pocket and then wait for the reimbursement to come.

He was not in favor of that and was very furious at me that the claim for cashless was rejected. He also did not want to spend so much money from his own pocket.

I genuinely wanted to help him. I have some really good friends in pharmaceuticals field and I found out from them, who was a good pediatric surgeon in the closest vicinity, where my client resided. They gave me names, and I found one most common in all the list, and this doctor was in Kalyan.

I called my client and suggested the name of this new doctor, and he said he already knows him. I asked him what was he waiting for then?

The very next day they went to see him, and the surgery was performed. The operation went beautifully, the kid is safe and recovering well :)

To their surprise the cost of the whole procedure was just 1/4^th of what was given to him by this FIVE star hospital at Thane.

What I really want to convey here is this… it’s not that only high charging hospitals or the famous personalities are able to deliver the best results. 

There are so many infamous yet some of the BEST people around us, whom we do not even care to consider and give a chance.

These people know precisely what their job is and what their responsibilities are, and believe me when I say this, they are good at it. 

They too are the BEST, it’s just that they are not famous yet, or may be are not interested in being famous. They too believe in delivering their best, and they do it relentlessly, without expectation of any reward of fame. They are content and happy with what little they do and they are serving the community in a very humble and generous way, which is beyond our comprehension.

They are waiting for us to give them an opportunity. 

Success mantra….

Today I am going to share a learning which each of us should understand and apply in our day to day life. Although I myself follow this as much as possible, but never shared. 

But today while I was surfing through YOUTUBE videos, I came across this video and after seeing it felt like sharing it with you all.

What amazed me about this video was that how the host (PRIYA KUMAR) conveyed one of the most important lessons to some childrens through a simple game and which I feel each of us must bring into practice every day of our life.

So in this video, the host - PRIYA KUMAR, is addressing some children’s and she is asking them what all things they need to be successful…

All sorts of answers came in like; time, hard work, respect, education etc; but then PK says there is one more thing which is very important, and what that one thing is, is what she wants to demonstrate through a game.

                               
Video Source- SONA KUMAR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

So the game is that each child were given a balloon and a tooth pick, and they were asked to blow it. They were then asked to ensure that their balloon stays blown for next ten minutes. Whosoever’s balloon stays up for ten minutes will win a prize :)

So the game begins and guess what? No one’s balloon lasted long enough and the game was over in less than three minutes….. Why? Because each participating child was busy blowing up others balloon so that only his or her balloon stays up till the end of ten minutes, so that he or she can win the prize….. and in the process each one ended up blowing up one another’s balloon and no one won :(

     

You must be wondering so what? That’s no big DEAL, Yesss…..

Well actually it is both a NO and a YES.

It’s NO big deal if you look at it merely as a game. But if you look at the whole game/ exercise from a human behavioral point of view and observe it carefully and relate it with your life, YES it is a big DEAL.

So what was the teaching of the game and which inspired me to write about it?

Each of us wants to be successful in all that we do, be it in professional or in personal life. And in order to achieve this success we all need help and support of others. No one can grow big or achieve success all on their own.

As much as we want to succeed in whatever we do, so do others. We must therefore respect everybody’s dream for success, and as often as possible, try to help and support them. When we wish well for others, they surely too will wish the same for us, isn’t it this a WIN, WIN situation for ALL :)

And yes, not only should we root for success of others, we must also ensure that we must stop those who try to be a hindrance in the path of others.

P.S: The host PRIYA KUMAR is a very famous and most sought after Motivational Speaker in the corporate circle nationally and internationally. She is also author of 10 books, and has won several international awards for her books.

Achieving Financial goals needs Discipline and Focus

In my business as a financial advisor, I have observed one thing and this disheartens me. People set goals for long term, and they also continue with investments till the end, yet sometimes they fail to achieve the desired corpus which was projected at the start of their financial journey.

You must be wondering, why?

You might be thinking that may be I do not know my job well....

Before you make any judgments, I want you to go through this complete article and then decide why it happens? How it happens and what goes wrong?

Usually when I meet a prospect and discuss with him what his/her or their short term, mid-term and long term goals are, they tell me their various financial goals. Once they give their list of the financial goals and the number of years in which they wish to achieve them, I take into consideration various other important factors viz; their income levels, current liabilities, expenses, current investments, their risk appetite etc.

Once armed with these details I do some number crunching and some working and give them a picture of their current financial standing. Then with that as background I help them prioritize their goals and the order of importance. Sometimes I ask them to postpone some goal/s as their current financial situation do not allow them to go for them now.

Once we are in agreement with that, then I go back and return once again with a road map/ financial plan for them which will be able to help them achieve their desired goals. Sometimes they start the plan as it is, while at others we take a step up plan route.

Everything goes well for initial three to five years but then things change. Now that the money is growing their focus diverts. And since they are already seeing the money available in the portfolio, they express their desire to withdraw some amount from this corpus in order to fulfill their new fancy.

Nothing wrong with that. But what they forget is that the corpus is being made for a goal which is still ten or twelve or fifteen years away. Most of the time this far off goal is either higher education of their kids or retirement of their own.

When one withdraws money in between, the future of these long term plans gets affected. I bring this to their notice that doing so is not what I would recommend as it will hamper their long term goals, for which we did the whole exercise and started the plan in very first place.Some of them understand the point I try to make and do not disturb the plan, while others say that this present thing is more important. And that, since we still have time for that other goal we will refill the amount which will be withdrawn as we go ahead.

In most of the cases I have seen that the refill never happens. Because every now and then something or the other which they feel is more important comes up.

What they also ignore or disregard is the fact that when they withdraw the money before the desired tenure, the whole purpose of the financial planning gets defeated. Why?

Because when a plan projection is made we take into consideration various parameters.... returns and tenure being one of the main criterias in it. What it means is that if the amount which I suggest after applying various hypothesis and calculations is invested regularly without any interruption for a particular goal as per the tenure, only then can the goal be achieved. If one withdraws money in between, the returns gets affected and so does the whole calculations and the workings for the plan.

And even if the refilling is to be done it will need much bigger amount then the one which was initially calculated.

In wealth creation or financial planning one does not need more MONEY, one only needs more TIME. 

You cannot postpone your kid’s higher education because you do not have enough money. Can you? Yes, for once you may postpone your retirement, but then would you really would want that?

In my working experience of more than seventeen years as a financial advisor, this is what I have observed, analyzed and realized. Higher education of your kids, your own retirement, and your family’s health and financial security are your basic needs and they need to be covered first. Everything else can be added up later on when your finances allows that.

So my friends if you really want to achieve the financial goals you desire, please start investing as soon as you can, and once you start it please do not deviate from the plan.

Job of a good financial advisor is to come up with a realistic and workable plan for you, and then help you achieve it. Annual review, regular monitoring of your portfolio and making the necessary course corrections as and when needed is both his job and his responsibility. You just make sure that you follow the plan, keep the required discipline and stay focused on the goals that you want to achieve. And he will ensure that you achieve all your financial goals as smoothly as possible, without any stress :)