When you look into the mirror,
It’s not yourself you see,
But a strange dreadful apparition,
dressed in fearful symmetry.

Age creeps up on us so slowly that all of a sudden one day we look into the mirror and find that the outer self does not seem to keep up with the sparkle in the eyes reflecting the youthfulness within anymore. Then we begin to reflect on our past and how things would have been different had we taken a different path other than the one we had taken. Were all the decisions we had taken in the course of living right? Had the sacrifices we made for others worth it?
In the ultimate analysis life is to be lead to a person’s own satisfaction with depth and passion. In short; LIVE LIFE KING SIZE. After all for all we know, we have only one life to lead, so why not live it on our own terms? This may sound highly impractical, but what I mean is that when we do or try to do things which may please our near and dear ones, but not our own selves, we are creating the plinth for our own misery and thereby the misery for all those around us.. You can spread happiness only if you yourself is happy. Going against your nature helps no one.
I may seem to be advocating selfishness and self-centeredness. No, I am trying to say that living on your own terms mean that at the end of the day or more precisely at the twilight of your life you should not have any regrets or remorse. A person who at the end of life’s journey can smile adieu is the person who has lived well. Opposed to this is the person who is found often to sigh about lost opportunities, about the wrongs that befell him because of others. You should be able to associate with all your decisions and actions and take full responsibility for it.
As we get on in years, our minds and souls should feel the peace and joy of life and living. This can happen when we have been able to soak in the experiences and learnt from it, not just superficially remembered it. The feel of the past is very satisfying and pulsating. We should be the gardener’s of our own minds, keeping it free of all the weeds and only growing the flowers and fruits. These flowers and fruits mirror our soul’s development and unfoldment under circumstances trying to press it down.
When we get the call from the other world let us leave without turning back with a sigh of regret. Our self reflection should show our life’s experience etched and it should be a happy one.

MOBILE MANIA

My mobile handset of ten years had decided to hang up its boots. I was in a fix because the electronic device which was invented by Martin Cooper, a Motorola researcher, as the first practical mobile phone for hand held use back in 1973, had come a long way from its origin, not only in its looks but also in its features and the number of utilities. When I had purchased my hand set about a decade back, a Nokia hand-set which was black in color and quite big in size although not as big as its first hand-set which was something I had wanted to purchase.
When I decided that I definitely need a new mobile phone and went around asking friends and foes alike regarding the best and not-so-best handsets of different companies, I was completely stumped by the counter questions I faced. ‘Do you want a mobile with Bluetooth, internet browser with HTML?’ another friend asked if I wanted a folding handset, sliding, twisting or touchscreen handset. I was already feeling a country bumpkin who has just come to town. My idea of a phone is very archaic; I should be able to call and receive calls where ever I am. If I want internet connections, recorders, radios, cameras etc. I will purchase them separately. Apparently the technological world thought differently.
I then asked my brother whose costly mobiles seem to run out of steam ever so often, that he is forced to purchase a new one every three years or so. He tries to live up with the Joneses’ so the handset has got to be expensive. He gave me certain salient features of today’s smart phones.
Mobile phones often have features beyond sending text messages and making voice calls, including call registers, GPS navigation, music (MP3) and video (MP4) playback, RDS radio receiver, alarms, memo and document recording, personal organiser and personal digital assistant functions, ability to watch streaming video or download video for later viewing, video calling, built-in cameras (1.0+ Mpx) and camcorders (video recording), with autofocus and flash, ringtones, games, PTT, memory card reader (SD), USB (2.0), infrared, Bluetooth (2.0) and WiFi connectivity, instant messaging, Internet e-mail and browsing and serving as a wireless modem for a PC, and soon will also serve as a console of sorts to online games and other high quality games. Some phones also include a touchscreen.
After going through the catalogue all that I understood was that in a mobile handset you can have the world on your fingertips. I wonder how small we will make the world. Since the advent of television people’s social aspects got highly sidelined, no going out for the romantic evening drives, no spending time at a movie hall no more walking along an avenue without any purpose. Now with the new set of mobile phones there is going to be further cocooning of a person in his own mind and shell.
So now that my knowledge was enhanced, I decided that I want a handset which would be medium large, black in color and having the basic features. Now came the question of which company’s handset do I want. Again I was thrown off my feet as the goodness of many a company was vouchsafed by my friends. I decided that I will take a poll among all the known people and then come to any conclusion. This was easy (the polling) as everybody right from the corporation sweeper to the vegetable vendor, maid, milkman all had a mobile. The difficult task was when I wanted to know the company’s name. Most mistook it for the service provider. At last when I tallied the results, I saw that three companies were equally voted for, I was again in a spot. Then I decided that my former handset was with me for ten years without giving me any trouble whereas the same set had gone kaput within five years for my cousin who had bought it along with me from the same store the same day, so there is also a luck factor involved regarding the longevity of your mobile. I purchased one of the same company but although the handset is a long one, it’s too slim. It does have a camera, video, internet etc. I have packaged my old mobile and kept it by as a memento of good old days of sturdy, practical mobile handsets.

MONEY MATTERS

I have come to the conclusion that ultimately it’s your wealth which counts. All your ugly/evil traits are easily overlooked and forgiven if you have a hefty bank balance, God is with you otherwise. When all my family members were living and was in a position to give others in cash and kind, our house was never free of visitors and guests. Once they all left and I was bereft of any cash or contact, they all disappeared. After catching up with all the financial nitty-gritty and having been able to release all the cash of my family from different financial centers etc,. They resurfaced from nowhere.
The maid at my place swears by very thing she holds sacred that her loyalty to me can never be doubted. The moment she or any of her family members fall ill, it’s me who provides her the medicine and doctor’s advice etc., but if an emergency arises at my place she will not be available, because the other house-hold where she works she gets a higher salary. So all the good work does not count. The rickshaw pullers of my locality callously tell other passengers that they will not to go to the passengers destinations because it’s their meal time or because it is very hot etc., but once they sight me they are more than willing to forget their meals or the power of the sun’s rays – the reason being the fact that I pay them a couple of extra rupees than the rate. I do it because I hate human labours and not for any other reason. People might say ‘Oh! These maids and lower class people are all the same. I disagree. My dad worked in a very high rank in a British co., so we had a host of relatives who visited us every summer and winter, as a child I remember at times there were more than a dozen relatives at our place. They got the best of treatment. My parents organized sight-seeing tours, picnics and the club recreations which they unabashedly took and proffered that my parents were their favorites. Once my dad retired and a lot of the pomp and glory dimmed, these same relatives became scarce, and then their excuse was some one in the family insulted them by looking at them in a certain manner etc. and once my parents expired, they simply vanished into thin air. If I rang them, they made excuses which blatantly displayed their desire to sever all ties. Now that I have set up my own business and by God’s grace have found success and also was able to get a hang of the financial settings my dad left behind, I have rediscovered that they do care for me! Now a wedding in the family is incomplete if I don’t attend, every weekend some one or the other will drop in to enquire after me. Now that I give them a miss, does not stop them from coming. My brother had the same experience with the relatives. Now that he is in the top most position of a highly reputed company, I hear that all the old acquaintances try to keep in touch with him.
Money may is important but only as a means to gain your end. If it is made a goal then a person forgets to live with self respect. I have vowed I will never ever be generous with 99% human beings even if it means going against my nature and its best to maintain a distance with so-called near and dear ones because they are the people who can befool you. My cats and dogs at least have never bothered to fool me into believing of their undying love.