WUI - writing under influence

This is a disclaimer. It claims that most of these posts, especially the ones that resonate with the majority of people and find harmony at the deepest level, are written under influence. Under the influence of intoxicating subtances that make one forget about the false reality of the universe in its manifested form. Whether these are external in the form of physical liquids, solids, or internal, in the form of the joy that is ever inherent to oneself, sometimes discovered through external activities themselves or merely activities dependant on other factors is just a matter of coincidence.

In simple words, what this means is, there are many ways to dissolve the ignorance of the mind that brings forth the shining light of the self in its full glory even if momentary. This can be through the consumption of intoxicating substances which however leave a harmful side effect in the form of addiction, on the mind. Or, it can be in the form of certain practices like meditation, which again can run the risk of being addicted to the path than to strive for the end goal! It can even be as simple as a fulfilling achievement that causes the mind to dissolve itself the moment the object of attachment is attained, which is however momentary. Exercise can also cause this by releasing certain chemicals in the brain as the sense of self is expanded to include the sport being indulged in by the body. It is important to note that the true purpose of life that teaches through these experiences is to let one attain the highest state of mind, the true formless self, to ever experience such unhindered joy forever!

A favourite pasttime

It was always an acitivity that used to give me great pleasure. To watch old kannada songs or atleast hear them somewhere, even if in the distance on a radio playing in the neighbouring apartment. Maybe it was becauase I'm an old fashioned guy who will never become 'with the times'. Maybe it is because as a kid my mom used to play the radio every morning and as I got ready for school these same songs used to play and strike a resonant chord with my heart. Maybe its because the old times are when life was un hurried, less hectic, full of romanticism - atleast one would like to associate a memory with more glorious times. Nevertheless, the video in these songs evokes some extremely fond memories of trekking in the western ghats with glorious views afar and soothing greenery nearby.

Now as I enter a new phase of life, I can imagine and put myself - again here, the 'self' is the much abused word used in ignorance to denote the body-mind complex, while it means the self of the universe and beyond in the real sense. Though, for transactional daily purposes especially in such mundance posts of desires, memories and the mind, I shall use it in the 'normal' sense of ignorance. So, continuing, I can put myself and my 'would be' in the picturisation of each of these songs - its really beautiful !

The current song I'm listening to is 'naaninna mareyalaare'... how can one forget the ones dear to oneself? I cannot help delving deeper than meets the eye to say how can one forget ones self. The 'I' ness is and will always be inherent, though in a mistaken sense mostly till the ignorance is given up! Another song which I now listen to now is 'nagunagutaa nee baruve'.... for the sake of a single liftetime, it is sufficient to assume one gets happiness from another person, the significant other with whom one spends an entire life. But what beyond the life? What about eternity? Thankfully, no ignorance can exist for ever and that is solace to us deluded individuals imagining ourselves to be mere mortals.
'eko eno eenanna manuvu uyaale anthe toogide' talks about the swinging nature of the mind. The mind is better known as the monkey mind, swinging between one thought or desire to another with no end in sight. Basically, all songs and all lyrics are outpourings of the mind, experiencing often the 'no mind' state that gives joy!

Shifting back, its good that technology for video streaming has improved to the extent that one can watch videos in low resolution without awaiting removal of jerkiness during buffering intervals. At the same time, at a broader reflection it is to be seen that the technology to 'keep in touch' with ones memories whether it is of songs, incidents, people, etc is only keeping pace, just about, with the technology to take people farther away than their minds could imagine!!! So, in some sense, if 'progress' didn't exist then nothing would be amiss, definitely not happiness!

In the hands of the unknown

This year has been a roller coaster of unusual ups and downs. As I introspect I wish to be always positive and hopeful so I'll list down in chronological order, the upswings first:

1. I did a 10 day solo trip hiking some beautiful mountains surrounded by lakes. It was a near meditative experience being alone so long in such quiet, desolate places.

2. I got engaged to a very lovely girl of my dreams, though dreams and characters are never static!

3. I finally got a transfer to the group of my choice within my present company, something that had kept me on a painfully long wait due to bureaucratic processes

4. My parents visited me in a foreign land, an event which unfortunately had never occured in another foreign land even further across the seas

Now for the negative events, though it'll be seen how atleast some of these so called terrible events had some purpose:

1. My passport was misplaced by my home country authorities in this foreign country. It caused unnecessary tension, more so to my close family than to me. But this later proved to be a blessing in disguise as 2 above (& less importantly 1 also) would have never happened without this mishap.

2. I had a near fatal accident where the car ended up gruesomely mangled up. On the positive note, all of us escaped nearly unhurt, so that's the best part.

3. I got swindled of a very large sum of money by an unscrupulous real estate agent. Again, on the positive note, this later saved me from spending much more money by living on my own. Its just how I look at it now.

4. My house got burgled and 2 valuable laptops stolen. Lost some un-backed up data too! Again, the silver lining is that I received a much better performing newer, sleeker laptop.

All in all, it evens out or can actually be said that's its a great year for me. Its all a matter of perspective. Some may say I was jinxed. I'd prefer to look at the very large silver linings in each of these and be very thankful for a pleasant turn of events. This year the events have flowed in such a way that most of them can be said to be more of 'fate' than free will, if at all that exists in a dream characters dream world!

One of the paths...

Most of us lead a deluded existence identifying with the ego comprised of the body and mind. At the root of all our thoughts and emotions lies this ego. So, the best way to root out the ego is to observe the thoughts & emotions constantly and trace their origin. At the most fundamental level the ego also has its birth from the 'source' consciousness or the self. So on removal of the ego, as mistakenly understood by some, it is not nothingness and loss of identity, rather it is the real identity emerging from the shadow of ignorance.

What can lead us to seek this? It may be some trivial problems in life, or in general a feeling of limitedness that is tightly constraining. After all, what sort of freedom is it as long as one identifies with a body that ages every moment, whose critical functions are all involuntary, and a mind that one knows nothing about, yet which seems to dictate each & every outcome of life?!

As I enter into a new phase of life the larger purpose becomes immediately clear. There is a mirror to the mind at most instants and its easy to observe progress in self enquiry. Sometimes attachment develops to a very large extent. Previously the technique practiced was to try and avoid thoughts or divert them - but that is largely useless as its impossible to control flow of a river. However, with self enquiry, one focuses on the self which is the self of all and since there is unity and harmony, there is no 'other' than one's true self, thus removing attachment and every other unwanted thought.

It is similar to dipping a salt statue repeatedly in the sea to dissolve the salt in the sea and once the statue disappears or rather, merges into the sea which anyway contains infinite salt, then only the sea remains! By dipping the mind and its thoughts back into the self constantly, in the beginning it takes conscious effort (of the mind itself) but gradually when it becomes smooth and effortless its an amazing feeling. There is total calm and peace. The most crucial advantage of this method is that it can be practiced at any instant of time and has no relevance to the situation or the state of mind/ body! One can be walking on the road, in a meeting, studying something, all the while resting in the nature of one's self! Having said this it is to be noted that, in a subtler state of mind its much easier to see the light of the self.

A major and often encountered pitfall is the stage where the ego becomes miniscule but doesn't disappear totally. Then there are periods of knowledge where the magnitude of everything other than the finite becomes known. But this is the crucial period that has to be gone beyond to completely extinguish all traces of the ego. That is when the knowledge dawns in its permanence!

Mirror less reflections

The currents in life have been changing very rapidly these days. In fact, so fast they flow from all directions that I'm amazed I can finally call myself as 'very busy' even before I enter the next phase of life. Just 2 years back, I had lots of time on my hand for contemplation and idling which I never consider wasteful. But these days, balancing all priorities in life is a big challenge, as newer more exciting activities keep popping up all the time, weighted on the other side by responsibilities that aren't as fun, but required nevertheless!

The mind is also no longer existing in isolation. There's great amount of synergy with another! When the waters of life from two streams mix there's a lot of excitement and different perspectives added. Its useful to know the higher purpose of union of two minds which is to get a more streamlined, stronger flow with less fluctuations thereby able to go farther and have a wider variety of experiences. If the dissolution of egos happens at least with in the boundary of two egos, then there is the capacity to live life through two different experiencers. This is with the intention that the minds broaden even further to encompass the entire creation and become one with Ishwara, the presence underlying creation. And of course, there are always the events that attract other similar minds to be nurtured in the physical world. Eventually, the goal is to surrender and merge all minds into the ocean of bliss of infinity that continues to exist irrespective of the world, but not the other way round.

This is an inconclusive piece, just as life itself is inconclusive when seen from the life’s perspective. Does the river ever conclude? Maybe yes, if one considers meeting the ocean as the end of its journey. But then, the ocean that doesn’t really flow continues the journey of the waters always.

An Irish poem

May there always be work for your hands to do;

May your purse always hold a coin or two;

May the sun always shine on your windowpane;

May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;

May the hand of a friend always be near you;

May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Mirror mirror of my mind, who's the youngest of them so kind?

One more year ticks by. It is only due to lack of imagination that we feel time has a forward direction. As for me, but for the occasional sober reminder that I'm getting older & need to take on responsibilities, there's nothing at all to make me feel any less innocent or carefree than a small kid! Certainly, the body grows older, the cells have been in existence much longer but apart from that the rest is timeless. As for the mind .... its been in existence only as long as it remembers itself.

Tales be told of a bygone era where men and women drank merrily from the fountain of youth. Nothing is amiss today. One can feel as young as one wants to, as happy as one desires and none will be poorer by this thought!

I believe I can fly.. I believe I can touch the sky! I'm light as a bird & the wind is heavy as my mind. I rise up beyond all, leaving far behind the surface thats the end of everything known!

Colorful chronicles

Touched by heaven in the twinkle of a moment,
Such a gush of blood in the heart of a poet,
Mere madness in an attempt for a sonnet!

Worlds apart, distant like the sky and earth
Till the clouds of mind have nothing but dearth,
Bestowing land the waters of desire's fiefdom.
Rendering bereft the sky, spaceless with air of freedom

Welcoming warmth of the celestial warrior,
Shooting splendidly arrows of light,
Piercing rays of hope through an invisible barrier
Splashing subtly colors of creativity, oh what a sight!

Behold the bridge of contoured creativity
Touching sky with earth, with such impunity!
The beginning of a show, thats all about unity!

The thrills and perils of technology

Wireless technology is a big boon for those on the move and for those of us who want freedom from - wires (what else!). Technology has progressed so much that now a days we can have wireless internet, wireless headphones, wireless communication between home devices and even wireless power - a recent development at MIT that works on magnetically coupled resonant receiver-transmitter pairs. Technology really has made rapid strides to make life simpler for us.

Or, has it? My immediate need is to buy a bluetooth headset with a mic/ headphone and a bluetooth adapter for my laptop to be able to communicate with freedom over VoIP channels to far flung places across the world. I want to be able to simply walk into a neighbourhood store, pay for it, plug it in and start talking. Tech savvy people would really laugh at that desire, something that will remain unfulfilled for ages to come! Laughable in other ways too - why pay double for something that's available at throw away prices, at throw away quality, at throw away customer service levels over some unknown e-commerce site? Having done some preliminary research on the net, I found that I'll have to install drivers on my laptop, configure some settings for both the adapter & headset and ensure compatibility between the adapter-laptop and adapter-headset (taking care of v 1.1, 1.2, etc). I believe I'll be able to manage all this to make it all work together, the how seems like a miracle. The question is how much time I have and what is my priority for this sort of thing right now. Being free of wires and being able to walk around while talking on VoIP is definitely a top priority for me right now. But spending many hours just digging up drivers, upgrades, potentially crashing my laptop - that's just not my cup of tea at this stage of life!

It may seem an exaggeration at first that it can be so hard to set right these things & get them working. I did a simple test run to check out these bluetooth headsets. Borrowing from my friend who bought a Sony Ericsson headset which claimed compatibility with my K700i cell, I checked if the 2 of them get along well. Can technology ever work that smoothly? Its simple enough to charge and switch on the headset. But no way on earth would the cell recognise the headset! The headset bought on ebay had no manuals in English - only Swedish, Italian and French. Not that manuals always help. Maybe it was defective. Maybe there was a secret 1 micrometer long switch that I had to press with a needle, looking through a microscope. I could have easily gone to user forums, browsed articles on the net, discussed with users and arrived at a solution. But the whole thing had just turned me off, as I wasn't interested in publishing a research paper on that technology, but merely to use it!

This forms the crux of why companies like Apple make a fortune based mainly on triumph of form over function. There is a huge market for creating devices and software that do just what they're supposed to, with no frills and no surprises, with no steep learning curve. Form over function goes beyond mere aesthetics. Its about intuitive, user friendly interfaces - simplicity is harder to come by than complexities. The best ideas tend to be the most simple - almost too easy to miss. In the area of personal computing, the potential is huge for offering ready made, fully tested, guaranteed to work solutions. Think of a bulb - one is nearly assured in 99% of cases that it will work as advertised, else money is refunded. Installation is dead easy too. For mass markets, that is where the future lies, not in just pushing through sophisticated products that fail to work mostly.

However the price one has to pay is exorbitant. In the lower to middle strata of society, only the people in a country like America have the opportunities to make investments in such geeky gadgets and make it worth their while too. Of course the other advanced countries in the world can definitely buy these - but unless one is very deeply interested in possessing the latest technology, its not worth the cost-benefit analysis. So, for a long time to come, the rest of the world will still be mired in plenty of wires and magazines showing what can be wonderful, easy to use solutions to get rid of them!!!! As for me, I'll invest in a 3m long headphone cable, upgrading from my current 1m cable length!!! :-))

On attachments

When a major decision is taken in life and a certain precious person or object is introduced in life, some thing that one's been waiting for a while it is but natural there is immediately a feeling of closeness and attachment. A zillion times I've learnt how attachment is the root cause of all suffering. There is no need to merely follow scriptures, but experiences both pleasant and unpleasant, bear testimony. Attachment can be to anything in this world - to a person, place, object, habit, event, etc. The learning of all these years will kick in now and I realize the importance of the saying 'yuddha kaale shastrabhyaasa' meaning, 'practising warfare during the war' - impossible to win that way!

Some things in life are transitory and its easy to recognise the pitfalls of such attachments. But why would anyone be convinced that attachment to some 'thing' that will be with you through out your life is bad!! Especially, when its a beautiful thing that brings a lot of joy continuously. It is merely because the mind has to be free always, like a bird in flight guided by the wind and its own whims. The most creative mind filled with life and positive energy is never one existing in bondage. True love and affection cannot flow when there is possessiveness. To mentally let go is a virtue one has to learn even when there is nothing to actually lose, even when something will possibly be with you till the last breath.

There is yet another pitfall from attachment. It leads to a sense of incompleteness. Craving for something or someone only deepens the ignorance that happiness would follow on its acquisition. Hence, there is a sense of helplessness and dependence on something external for joy! One's true nature is perfect and complete in being infinite. Incompleteness however large it might be (say, to include a whole country), is still not infinite/ complete to include everything!

A vast majority of the people in this world never let go as long as the going is good. Only when rudely shaken up after a major loss do they realise their state in shambles. I'm now fully convinced of the importance and relevance of even 'bad' events in life. They shape up the mind, purifying it continuously till it dies a death. If everything in life were to be smooth, which in my opinion never is for any person, then there would be no reason to think about and crave for freedom. There would be no reason to see the light that dispels ignorance.

The mark of a perfected being, one for whom the imperfect mind is totally removed is equanimity. Even the happiest incident (again, classified by some other perspective, or mind) for him brings as much joy as the saddest event. The joy in this case is not the immature and momentary excitement that one feels on getting high on sugar, or other substances, or by being 'in love', but its an all pervading sense of immense ocean like nectar, calm and thoroughly satisfying.

Finally, what's the bottom-line? Give up all attachments irrespective of the object or person in question. Include the body and mind as well & give up attachment to them! Once this is accomplished, everything will be acquired naturally, but funnily enough, nothing will belong to 'you'!

Tapestry of a thousand thoughts

As the sun wakes up in the sky
He stirs me from where I lie.
A series of mundane steps follow
And I get all ready to allow,
Some exercise for my lazy limbs!

As I climb into the field remote & vast,
I'm drawn to things that dont last;
On blades of grass tiny water droplets shimmer
Like diamonds strewn in an emperor's chest.
For the poor man, bits of hope that glimmer;
But treasures that threaten to fleet, lest
Ever present motives of greed simmer!

In the eyes of the mellow mind lies the scenery,
Evoking evanescently rainbow colors of the moods.
A receptacle for the arrows from the greenery,
Finally, no more than thoughts over which it broods!

Of unknown paths and known dreams

There were dire warnings, there were sighs of pity for me. All because I was going to travel alone to unknown but reputedly beautiful lands for 11 days. There were few risks - I'd never before driven a car on the roads here, where strange circles called roundabouts regulate traffic. Despite all this, I set off only with a rented car and my own confidence/ foolishness for company, during which I covered 1600 miles in this small country of conquerors, the size of my state in India.

Planning was sketchy, but the structure proved sufficient. All I'd done was to book bed & breakfast accommodation for all the days and decided where I would stay when. The car was a gigantic, powerful fuel guzzler - large enough to host 6 of me inside. I had plenty of maps, a new GPS, lots of snacks, fruits, water, warm clothing, etc. More than all this, I had too much of advice from well wishers!

I took cruises on lakes, climbed mountains, saw tarns at the top, lots of waterfalls, glens, lochs, marshes, bogs, etc...actually trekking and exploring these routes, being a part of the scenery not a mere spectator. Each day afforded me lots of freedom and time. I would set off in the morning, drive on scenic routes, park my car at the base of some good hiking trail or mountain and just start walking. Thus, I climbed the tallest peak in UK, visited the wettest tarn atop a mountain and saw the most spectacular scenery ever. The journeys were fraught with danger - I wore non marking sneakers where the terrain demanded spiked shoes, carried barely enough water and just peanuts & banana on some of the hikes, had no detailed maps or compass, nor any companion. All I had was the ever present spirit. Many a times I was in so desolate a place that it was beautiful in ways I cannot explain.

Being alone on this trip was the best decision I'd ever taken. As I've written in one of my earlier posts about the difference between being 'alone' and 'lonely', being alone is exhilarating only if one doesn't feel lonely. Fortunately, I've lost the ability to feel lonely (touch wood). There's something about ever new experiences, where memory has no say, where its just the mind and spirit, one watching the other till the mind finally falls silent. Like life itself, there were many paths on the way and little knowledge where they led. I knew where I wanted to go and what sort of experience / scenery I wanted and that guided me. Now and then a kind person turned into a lighthouse beacon. Just like life (again), there were few anxious moments where I was seemingly lost. Not knowing where one has come from and where one is going is one definition of feeling lost. But that is the way we live our life, though we only have a picture of where we 'want' to go.

Eventually the journey planned itself well enough to suit me. The structure that forms my ego in terms of the body and mind, livings its life according to a high level plan called fate with apparent control by the ego - that formed the crux of this trip as well! There wasn't really anything I could have done or avoided that would've made it better. It was enough to have faith and like a dream, it unfolded in the sky of my imagination. It made me financially poorer, but richer in reclaiming the joy that belongs to me always. I saw some more of the 'dream', like seeing the patterns formed by light through the wisps of smoke!

Gudugudiya sedi nodo

The title is a song by Sant Shishunaala Sharif, a 19th century spiritual poet of North Karnataka, South India. This song urges the listener to smoke a Hookah (a smoking pipe) to understand how one should lead life! Open the small cloth bag called mind, pull out the hash called greed/lust, crush it in a chillum called faith and light it with a fire called intelligence, Smoke that Hookah, he says.

I listened to the rendition at Raghudixit Project from where the above paragraph is also taken. Theirs is an upcoming innovative band making news in Bangalore and other parts of India.

The saint is beautifully bringing out the topic I've written about many times in the blog - light up the mind and destroy it. Then will end Maya this illusion that makes up our so called universe, life and everything that goes with the limited existence.

An inspiring visit

Recently due to various circumstances created by my employer and the apathetic Indian Govt., I had the opportunity to visit the great city of London for a few days. I traveled quite a bit around the city during which I visited a few museums - National (art) gallery, British museum, Natural history museum, Royal observatory, National maritime museum! That is a lot of Science, culture, arts and History packed in the limited space of a few days! Being an avid fan of Discovery, National Geographic and such documentary channels this was an intense experience for me, to absorb the knowledge of 1000s of years of research by some of the brightest human beings. Obviously I only skimmed the surface for the most part due to limited time and patience. Yet, I completely felt mesmerized, like a kid watching the night sky for the first time. It was overwhelming many times during this visit... when I felt so out of depth, like a small drop of water gazing at the zillions of rain droplets. I felt I should be a Scientist, working on some abstruse research problem with no care for money or the other aspects of life. Those dreams I once had as a kid resurfaced! I'd often wished to be endowed with super intelligence, to be an ultra genius!

I am truly amazed at the contributions of the human race. More importantly, I'm all the more fascinated by the PRESERVATION and showcasing of these mammoth achievements, something that rarely if ever happens in India. It has taken immense discipline and collective efforts to build such a collection of artifacts over the course of decades, or even centuries. Truly the British are a great race (atleast in this sense) and in some aspects Indians need to be grateful to them for ruling over the country and bequeathing a few useful systems (railways, postal system, ...). However, this is not to say the Indians or any other countrymen are any less, nor does it detract from condoning imperial suppression of cultures.

There is an incredible amount of greatness that comes out of discipline and collective effort, when will powers rarely transgress boundaries. This is the only lesson for India and the rest of the ancient civilizations that were once upon a time the envy of all, but have since fallen way back in terms of 'progress'. Look at the Greek, Indian, Egyptian, Mesopotamian and such civilizations and its clear as vanilla to draw this conclusion. 'Progress' here refers mainly to Scientific and materialistic levels. As for spiritual evolution, nobody knows even about their closest friend, so what can be said about countries? (Religion is not to be mistaken for spirituality).

Anyway, these sort of changes are cyclical. Just like the seasons, the stock market, the tides and all natural phenomenon. So, there will be, like in a sinusoidal wave, a peak point at which the greatness of these other countries will slide down, and like the cosine wave India and other nations will regain their glory. About the period, it might range from centuries to millenniums or more. So, you and me should stop waiting for improvements and simply live life!

7 super resolutions for 2007... & for life!

My new year resolutions for 2007 are fairly straight forward:

1. Breathe: I've lived for nearly 3 decades but am yet to learn how to breathe well. I believe most of us don't breathe the right way all the time. Controlling breathing is the easiest way to control the mind, emotions, intellect, etc. I've never learned pranayama or yogic techniques. But to me it has been obvious that rhythmic, deep breathing using both chest and abdomen to full expansion-contraction holds the key to leading a very healthy life. It not only increases the IQ and EQ tremendously, but brings great joy! In the beginning, this will take a conscious effort but once it gets established as a routine, then breath by breath, this most important resolution will fructify.

2. Positive affirmations: I've made up my mind to constantly affirm positive thoughts... that I'll be extremely healthy, wealthy, wise, intelligent and successful in life. Like the weight of the stone that lets it sink to the bottom despite the currents, these have no choice but to find their mark. I've learned the hard way that being spiritual only means one no longer cares for something materialistic (or, its absence), but its harmful to wish away the material belongings as long as one is still in this world, ie, not a renunciate. A single negative thought that shaped my attitude for a while cost me dearly in financial terms... still does!

3. Work-life balance: I work for 2 companies and have atleast 4 bosses (or key stakeholders). This had led to quite some stress last year. To me, who is always looking for a variety of experiences, with work viewed as 1 aspect of life, it simply wasn't enjoyable. But over time I've discovered that successful people never crib. They effectively manage and enjoy all aspects of life, including tremendous amount of pressures at career too. I'm consciously trying to learn and practice good time-energy-priority management skills. To start with, I'm reading a personal productivity best seller 'Getting things done' by David Allen. Call it self-help or general management, I hope to bring some order into my otherwise chaotic work-life.

4. Read: I want to be very well read, especially in Management related subjects. After long last, I've figured there are only 2 career paths - technical or management - no point being in between. In technical, one needs to get deep down into the bowels of some technology by either going for a PhD or sticking on to a technology for the love of it for long enough that you're the undisputed king. In management, one learns to manage people, finance, companies, strategy, etc to change fortunes. A breadth of knowledge is key here, along with plenty of common sense. With more time freed up thanks to my resolution no. 3, I should be able to comfortably use it for my benefit.


5. Travel: I'm in a foreign land. A beautiful country with a rich History and plenty of multi-cultural experiences to go through. I wish to travel every weekend, atleast on one day within UK and atleast once a quarter to Europe. Again, key to making this come true is resolution no. 3.

6. Exercise: I've felt the extreme thrills that simple pleasures like exercising brings... a rush of blood to the head and heart... a sense of euphoria! Other than the known health benefits, it promotes increased sense of well being and higher energy levels, both mental and physical long after exercising. I plan to jog atleast once a weekday, swim on Saturday and jog on Sunday. When I buy a car, I hope to be able to start playing tennis once again. In a country like India, this would've been real easy. But here, it keeps raining all the time, the temperature drops to 0 deg. outside... and combined with my dislike for indoor exercise/ gymming, I need some special plans to make this work!

7. Eat: This relates to the trouble I've faced due to lack of food.. on which I've written 2 or more posts previously. I've decided its worth the effort to eat healthy, eat good and eat well to keep the body-mind going strong.

These 7 super resolutions are all I need in life. The rest will follow. I will stop making the same 'resolutions' from 2008, since by then with some discipline and will power, I wish to make them an integral part of my attitude... to let them sink into my conscious and sub-conscious mind so they come true of their own accord.