Movie Recommendation #1:The boy in striped Pyjamas

I just watched this movie yesterday ‘The boy in Striped Pyjamas’ and without any doubt it’s a must watch for everyone.I would not like to tell the story as it unfolds in an unexpected way one after the other and that’s what makes it captivating.The end was really very touching and disturbing to me.I just sat still and thoughtless for a while after the movie ended.

Just to give you an idea of the plot to get interested..Bruno is a son of a commandant of a Nazi Camp.He moves to a countryside along with parents and sister after he is told that his dad is promoted and needs to fulfill duties towards his nation.As they arrive,Bruno initially hates the place as he has little to explore and has no friends to play with.

In his fit for adventure and exploration,Bruno one day sneaks off into the back garden and eventually arrives at an extermination camp which he thinks to be a farm and befriends a boy his age who lives on the other side of fence.The boy and everyone else in the camps wear striped pyjamas which he finds strange and thinks it to be a part of the game.He slowly gets to know that his friend is a Jew.

The story then continues with Bruno’s adventure to explore the truth about the concentration camps between what was being tutored to him and what he experiences for himself leading to an unexpected and tragic ending…

I felt sick and suffocated at the thought that millions of Jews were exterminated burning them in gas chambers using some chemicals.I can't believe this actually happened for real.What would i have felt had i been there being treated as inhuman just because i belonged to another race ?What if our country was not a democracy and was ruled by a dictator like Hitler?What right do we have to define a race as inhuman and kill them all?Thinking all this,i felt grateful that am born in a country and at a time where i can enjoy so much freedom

The 8 yr old was so courageous and curious that he went out of his way to help his friend find his father.Such is the innocence of childhood that it sees no differences.The movie just led me to think that as adults,if we could also only think like a child ,we would not be able to see differences and if we would not see differences,there would be no wars,riots,innocent killings and separation.I just read somewhere that "There are always more things that unite us than divide us". The other hidden message in the story is that evil  people don't realize their actions until life actually teaches them a lesson by inflicting the same pain on them what they have given to others.Also,we need to think and explore the truth for ourselves even as a child and not blindly believe what is taught or fed in our heads.One must always keep that explorer alive within unlike Bruno's sis who believed every word that was being taught to her.

Watch the movie to know more.

Understanding Mother Teresa

I just finished reading the biography of Mother Teresa. The idea was to understand the stuff these great people are made of and get an insight into the lives they have lived. What is it that inspired them to sacrifice all the pleasures of life so easily and commit their entire lives to achieve a higher goal? They never had a trace of doubt in their heart for the path they had chosen for they never had the time to think about it , they were so busy fulfilling that one purpose in life god had sent them for. This blog is not about the life history of Mother Teresa as facts can be found on Google but ideas that struck me and I took away with me after reading the book.

Mother Teresa was a no different woman. Perhaps she was more ordinary than most ordinary people around us. She was a very simple, gentle girl full of fun. What made her different was her unshakable faith in god. She was so close to God in her body and heart that she could listen to the will of god for her. It was with the power of her prayers that she had been able to establish that connection with her higher self. Her talks were about simple things love, care and sharing. She told the importance of little drops in the end that make the ocean. She never wasted a single minute of her life as she believed that there was a lot of work to be done in her lifetime and the poor and needy were waiting for her. Only with such a strong faith and conviction, she was able to leave the comforts of Loreto convent as a teacher to come to roads in a single cotton sari without any money to help the extremely poor and desolate.

Once someone asked her, "how could she clean the stinking wound of a leprosy patient?" And she replied-“We could not do it for the love of all the money in the world, but we do it for the love of him”. Because she saw a dying and suffering Christ in the face of all the sick and poor, that she was able to serve them with all the love in her heart. The young sisters of missionaries of charity were asked once -“Didn't they once wished to have the lives of the young girls around on the road wearing fashionable clothes and enjoying the pleasures of life”. One of them just laughed and said that they had many opportunities to choose that life but they had evolved themselves so much spiritually that it just didn't matter to them. This made me reflect that for sure there is a higher state of contentment and bliss in which these young girls were living but perhaps it is beyond the imagination and understanding of a normal person like you and me

Another thing that struck me was that she never waited for anything to happen once she was sure of the path she wanted to take in her life. She believed in the providence of god and that he would help her in her journey. Reading this i remembered someone once said to me “if what one is doing is good and is for service to people, don’t worry about money, it will eventually follow". That’s what happened with Mother Teresa. Except for the initial stages of her struggle, she never fell short of donations or volunteers. All sorts of help poured in from all over the world to become a part of the good work that she was doing which she never even felt a need to publicize.

Mother Teresa was also different for she never looked for any public adulation for the work she did. She was extremely uncomfortable when she was called upon to receive awards and give public speeches. She thought that it took away her energy which could have been used it to serve one more patient. Once, she was asked what would she do with one of the award that she had recently received and she replied she would sell it and use the money to buy medicines and food for the people. So true, dedicated and pure was the life that she led.

It was truly inspiring and humbling to read the life story of a soul as great as her. If we could only live one percent of the live she lived, the world would be a much better place to live in. At the end I would just like to end with a quote from her “God has called upon all of us not to be successful but to be faithful”.

Keep learning, keep living.

            

Sustainability as a way of life

I came across this site http://thealternative.in/ sometime back while reading an article and since then, have been following it regularly.The site publishes articles on practicing a sustainable way of living.Sustainability as a word means a way of living which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The question is how can we practice it in our daily lives,What are the lifestyle choices that we can make while keeping our environment and society in mind?

I just read somewhere that most of us are living in an auto-pilot mode which means doing things as a habit without giving a thought.It just needs a little effort and curiosity to look to explore what others are doing differently to better their lives and those of others.This site covers articles about unnoticed people like who are making small real time changes to practice a more sustainable way of living.

We complain that media covers the success stories and not the failure ones.In my opinion,there is no failure stories.Every little effort counts and you rise on the learning curve of your own life. In olden times,people participated in the cleanliness and maintenance of their environment and surroundings but its not the same in today’s times. We do not give a thought beyond the comfort of our daily living.Here,you can read articles on woman engineers,housewives,farmers etc who took initiative to to give better solutions to problems of their day to day life and lead change.There are great articles on practicing organic farming,starting your own kitchen gardens,reuse of old stuffs,recycling of waste, life-skill schools like Arohi Foundation,arts and culture etc..Many of these articles are inspiring and implementable too.

The site might also help you to develop some useful interests and hobby for those who feel that they do not have any other option for entertainment other than television and internet.As engineers,we are not supposed to live and die before the computer.We all can be more participating and live a more active life .I am personally too restless for knowledge.I feel like I should learn everything around me whatever big and small.I have come to believe that there are enough people and resources in today’s time which can help us learn to live a more meaningful life.

I hope some will find the site interesting and useful.

A birthday token...

We have a custom in our philosophy class to present a token of a philosophical value to every member on his birthday.It was Prithviraj’s birthday,one of the members in my class and it was my turn to gift him this time.The idea behind the custom was to understand the spiritual implication behind giving and receiving gifts.The acts of giving helps us to think of others.When we think of others and put them ahead of ourselves,we reduce our thoughts about ourselves and thereby our ego.This is especially when the act is done without any expectations.

I took the help from my neighbor who knew madhubani painting and painted  a card for him. The card had fishes drawn on it which symbolizes ‘prosperity’ in madhubani form of art .I also wrote a small quote from Mahatma Gandhi inside which inspires me and I personally believe a lot “Be the change you wish to see in the world”.All the while what motivated me to finish the card was the thought that it was my turn to make someone feel special and reserve a small portion of his life with my memory.I didn’t want to lose the chance by doing something ordinary.

Painting,music,reading ,writing,dance or any other form of art is an entire world of your own in itself.It is an experience where you can connect with your deeper self and only the doer can experience the feeling of inner joy and peace that comes from it.I immersed my hands in colors after many years and enjoyed the feeling.

The effort was worth as Prithviraj felt really happy and special to receive the card.

A beautiful Gift

I lost my one and half year old niece a year back in a sudden accident.The shock was too hard for us to believe.As i moved on with my life accepting her absence,the incident affected me deeply.I needed questions to be answered and pain to be healed.There was a sudden change in the way i was looking at my life and those of others.With the chain of incidents happening in my life and my loved ones,i knew that life was giving a message which was important to understand.I knew that there is something beyond to meaning of our existence and i had to find my own answers.This began my quest for knowledge to explore the truth and meaning of life.

Its been a year since she passed and as i see myself now,she has left me behind a more compassionate and a better human being.She has somewhere freed me from the illusions of life that i was living in.I knew that we all have to die one day but now i am more aware of the mortality of my life and hence the importance to live a more meaningful and purposeful life.

This poem is a small dedication in memory of the little girl who came as a beautiful gift to light up our lives with hope and joy.

A Beautiful Gift

She looked at the stars in the sky,

With teary eyes,she again asked the question ‘Why’

You came like a ‘beautiful gift’ in her life

Little did she feel the joy,

And you just vanished from her sight

There must be a reason you came,

And a reason to leave her behind

She wanders around looking for that reason,

With constant emptiness in her heart and mind

You are seen in every innocent smile

And felt in every longing eyes

At times,she experiences you like an energy

Somewhere deep inside

Memories with you are so special
And will be forever cherished
If you can listen,its hard to tell
How you are always silently missed.