Another Candle On The Cake..!!

Bam Bam bam..Boom boom..Dishum dishum..These are not the sounds of any war sequence..This is d way how generally someone’s birthday starts in hostels..And I am no exception to this rule..I surely ws greeted with sound thumping and heart pumping bangs from all side and not knowing who ws hitting as I ws under a blanket..So thanq guys for making my birthday special as it would be something that would go unto my memoirs..

Wenever anyone asks me wen my birthday is, I jst tell them that I ws born on the 66^th day of the year..I feel that it’s pretty innovative and I lyk to make others work their brains off to know my birthday..Wen they turn up wit some wrong answer I jst tell them how poor they r in maths..Sometimes laugh my guts out and then again let those poor souls know that my birthday is on the 7^th of march..

In the spring of 1989 a new member ws added to my family..That member fortunately for u’ll and unfortunately for some others is me..!!My parents had a raring Luv marriage..So to mark me as the symbol of their luv they specifically named me Prateek..Which in itself means ‘symbol’ (in Hindi and Bengali)..And as my full name boasts Prateek Sur, I tell others that I’m the symbol of music and luv..That’s the way I anagrammatize my name..

This year I gave myself the best birthday gift I’ve given myself in all these 21 years..I learnt swimming..I started learning swimming on 1^st Feb. and had one single goal in my mind that I should be able to swim like a free fish before my birthday..And I did it..Hav not learned as gud as my fellow counterparts but still I hav learnt a lot..I really was hydrophobic and now am out of it..So it’s a big accomplishment for me..

Happy Birthday to U, Happy Birthday to U,

Happy Birthday dear Prateek, Happy Birthday to U,

From old Friends Adieu, from old Friends Adieu,

May Gud life be wit U, As Happy as U...!!

Birthdays..Has anyone thought of it..Wat is it??Everyone has them and each person reacts to them differently..When we are children, every birthday is great..It's all about the parties, presents and cake..And each year is one step closer to being thirteen, the age we are officially called a teenager..We think we're not kids anymore..Out go the parties at Chuck E.; Parties with themes. Now our parties can be boys and girls, and it has to be cool..Turning sixteen, especially for guys, is a big deal..We are coming into adulthood..Puberty has hit us and the dating world awaits us. It also means we are one step closer to the promise land, turning twenty-one.

Twenty-one is when we think our life really begins, and by life we mean adult parties and drinking..After twenty-one we still have some milestone birthdays coming up..Twenty-five, thirty, and some people think every five years after that is a big deal..Then you have the big 50...And of course everything after eighty is a blessing because most of us don't think we'll even make it that far..But I wish to complete my century and then pass away..

Neways what about the birthdays in between milestones? Are they not as important? On my 21st birthday, I'm left to wonder, what's the big deal anymore?

I've had this attitude for a while now and it drives my Friends crazy..It upsets them that I don't get that excited about my birthday anymore..I'm not as into it as them..When they ask what I want to do that day my reply is, 'I don't care, we can just stay in', which infuriates them even more..To them, everyone should be happy and excited when it's their birthday..And they'r not  hypocrites because when their birthday rolls around they'r genuinely excited and almost always thinking of something they want to do..

I guess I just don't have it in me anymore..I can't get excited the way I did when I was younger..I don't see the point..To me it's just another day; I just happened to be born on it..And, honestly, it has nothing to do with aging..I'm 21, and I have no problem saying that, because really, my friends and I still act like we are kids..I firmly believe that age is just a number..You're only as old as you feel and I feel young..So my problem has nothing to do with aging..When your birthday comes it reminds you that another year has gone by..Another year of your life is over..And when I look back on the year that's past, that's where my problem lies..

It's a problem because every year on my birthday I look back on the year before and I realize that I didn't accomplish all that I thought I would..

I had a whole year, 365 days, to do things and I didn't..I let that time pass me by and it makes me so mad at myself..Mad enough to make myself depressed..Angry enough to make me question the person I am..

Another year goes by and I realize that, once again, I didn't push myself hard enough to achieve my goal, whatever that goal may be at the time..So I question whether or not I really have it in me, whether or not I really am good enough..And this wears me down emotionally..It puts me in a funk every year around my birthday..

By not accomplishing anything I've basically wasted a year of my life. Now, let me just say, I don't just sit around all year doing nothing but waiting for the days to go by..I go places, I do things and I get some things accomplished..But, for me, it's never enough..I'm my biggest critic and I could pick the tiniest thing I didn't do that year and I get down on myself..Nothing else matters but that one thing..

I think the reason for this is that I always think about family members and friends who are no longer living or no longer with me..And I think about the fact that any one of them would give anything to be alive again..I think about the fact that when they were alive, they lived their life. They accomplished things..My best friend, Sumit, died when he was twenty-one, much too young. But, by that time he was already living his dream of being in an engineering college..By twenty-one, he had accomplished so much because he worked hard every day and he didn't let time pass him by..And here I am, 21, and I can't say the same..My urge to learn swimming came after he got drowned at Pondicherry..I dint wanna commit the same mistake that he did..

And to some extent, I feel like I'm disrespecting those who have passed or who are no longer wit me. I'm disrespecting the life they could have had, and maybe life in general..I'm not taking advantage of the opportunity I have in front of me..That opportunity is time..I have the time right now to make something of myself..And right now is the time to take advantage of that..

It's 2010...My 21st birthday is today..I won't accomplish everything by the time I leave college, but I vow to not be so hard on myself this birthday..Starting today I'm going to do what I can to get closer to my dreams and goals..I'm going to appreciate life more and give it everything I got..I'm going to show life the respect it deserves, not just for me, but for everyone who no longer has this luxury..And when I blow out my candles this year, I'll make a wish that every year that I'm alive is better than the one before..My birthday won't be a burden anymore..It will be a reason to celebrate..And I'm going to face it the way I did as a kid, with laughter and excitement at all that I have yet to accomplish and all that I have to look forward to in my life..

Jaishree Ram,

Prats..

IS GOD DEAD??

The prima-facie answer to the above ques can be two: YES or NO..All those who say NO I jst hav one ques to ask u, “if he’s not dead then where is he??”..And all those who say YES one ques for u too, “where was he wen he ws alive??”

According to us, Christians, God created everything on this earth..Every possible living thing..!!Whether it’s us humans or animals or plants or anything else..Whereas we, Hindus, believe that god dint create this world..God jst manifested himself in all living creatures..Hindus believe that God is present inside all living beings..

Whether HE is or HE is not does not matter as much as there’s something that matters more and that is our BELIEF..It all depends on wat we believe in ourselves..Many of my friends hav stated examples in front of me which were compellingly belief worthy that HE does exist..

A friend of mine once said that wen he ws in 10 std he ws in utter need of some computer softwares lyk JAVA, C++ and all..He ws not getting them in any market..So he ws pretty worried and kept praying to God that HE helped him..POP!!wat happens next made me dumbstruck..Next morning wen he woke up and ws walking in his garden he jst saw a disc half dug into the ground..He took it out and to his sheer shock the disc ws completely scratch free and wen he inserted it in his disc drive and played it wat he sees is that all the softwares that he needed were present in that disc..!!Wat would u call this??..Sheer luck or some sort of co-incidence or some divine intervention?? It’s difficult to answer this one as who believes in God will firmly say that it had the “Hand of God” whereas other atheists would say that ws a mere case of co-incidence..

On the other hand another friend of mine once told me that he has been asking for some favour from God for the past 3-4 years but he has not got even an inch of favour from HIM..So he is slowly turning on from a theist into an atheist..I know all firm believers of God will say that he should wait and watch later on there will be some help from HIM..HE may be late but HE won’t leave him in abject darkness..Some rationalists will turn up to quote the old adage “God helps those who help themselves!!”..But whatever the case is he is losing his faith in God..

I really am in a fix as to whom to believe as I really am not that much into religion and God..I am a Hindu but hav been to a church all my lyf as a church ws nearer to my house than a temple..Even at school the church ws nearer to me than any temple in the region..So I am more prolific in the Christian rituals, festivals and the myths than the Hindu counterpart..My friends do jeer at me wen I don’t call Ganesh as Ganeshji or Shiv as Shivji or Ram as Ramji..Or wen I don’t know at all abt at the hymns and prayers that they do..But I don’t hav any complaints as I would neva call them by adding an extra ji in their name as I firmly believe that they were born as humans and they did earn this much respect here on earth, at least,  that they can be called by their names..

Wat I wanna infer is that all that matters is wat is inside u..Wat u’ve been susceptible to right from ur childhood..If ur a gud parent ur child will grow up gud and if ur not then they’ll also turn up bad..People keep tellin that television is spoiling the kids now-a-days..But know wat children learn far more easily from wat they see at home from their parents rather than anyone else on the idiot box..

God cannot tell us to be gud or bad..It’s all within us..Even a very gud human may be an atheist and a very bad human can be a staunch believer of God..Even Osama bin Laden routinely offers namaz 5 times a day..Which shows that he is a strict believer of God..But the acts and deeds that he does don’t proclaims to be so..

So my final ques still remains unanswered as to whether God is actually there or has he jst turned a deaf ear to all the things happening on earth or has he become lyk us Indians..Adaptable to all situations..Or better still lyk many theists would say “God knows that we humans (his creations, so HE can’t be wrong!!) r capable enough of handling the situations..”

So, “IS GOD DEAD???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????”






Jaishree Ram,
Prats..

“Kyon paisa paisa karti hai, kyon paise pe tu marti hai”

This is not me saying..This is d inaugural line of a hit song from Akshay Kumar’s latest flick “de dana dan”..

Does this ring a bell??If not then can ne1 of u plz tell me wat this thing is??Rupee, dollar, pound, rouble, rial, Deutsch, yen, Yuan..wat r all these things??If at all it’s a thing!!Or is it so big that it can be LYF personified..!!Aye u got me right..It can be personified to lyf itself..Our very existence itself..We r on this earth bcoz of this..

If i ask u IS MONEY A PRE-REQUISITE FOR HAPPINESS??..Wat would ur answer be??..Ur answer prima-facie would be NO..Definitely NO..But is it really NO??..Then y is it a YES in our deeds??..All of us want to make money to gain some status, some comfort and luxuries..This money has brought, is bringing and will bring so many differences between u and me..These differences will be later named as differences between a rosy affluence and sordid poverty.. 

Many of u may disagree wit me nd move on to say that money is not everything..Yeah I agree wit all of u that money indeed is not everything..but know wat wit money u can buy this “everything” of urs..!!wit money u may fulfil all ur whims and fancies..all that u ever read of in gud novels or saw in bad movies.. u may accomplish all those childhood dreams of urs..jst that u need money..

I once wrote for a school tabloid a small poem which goes like:

MONEY CAN BUY:

A BED, BUT NOT SLEEP;

A HOUSE, BUT NOT HOME;

BOOKS, BUT NOT BRAINS;

FOOD, BUT NOT APPETITE;

MEDICINE, BUT NOT HEALTH;

AMUSEMENT, BUT NOT HAPPINESS;

RELIGION, BUT NOT SALVATION.

This poem is very true indeed and I really luved it wen I penned it down..but know wat back then I was very naïve, very unknown to wat d real world ws..but now I know..If u don’t have money forget abt a home u won’t even hav a roof over ur head to spend d cold winter nit..If u don’t hav money u may hav d appetite but u won’t get a single piece of bread..If u don’t hav money u may get salvation but u will not get d 5 yards of earth required for ur burial..

Has ne1 of u seen d movie TATHASTU??It starred Sanjay Dutt and Ameesha Patel..If u hav not lemme recite u d story a bit..Sanjay Dutt ws d father of an infant who ws diagnosed wit some deadly disease..Wen he went to d hospital to get his boy admitted d hospital asked him to submit a certain amount of money as d deposit then only would they operate on his child..But that sum as usual ws very exorbitant..No normal middle class could afford so much..After tryin all hands in vain he decided to take d route of vandalism..He seized d hospital..And wit a gun pointed on the heads of d patients he pleaded d hospital staff to take in his child..Mind u he PLEADED..D later part of d movie ws same as d child got saved nd Sanjay also ws not convicted as he did all this jst for d sake of his beloved son..

BUT BUT BUT wat I wanna emphasize from this story is that how important money is..!!Without money we may get pleasure from all d ABSTRACT things in lyf but we all know that we can’t live wit these non objective things..We need MATERIAL pleasures for our existence..We need money for buyin a gud house which later on would be a gud home only if we hav money enough to maintain nd live in it..we need money so that we may send our off springs to a gud school nd get them proper education..no gal ever glances towards a guy who does not luk rich..nd d vice versa is as well true..!!

         "Money makes you feel better, 
        even if you don't like the stuff."  
                  -- Joe Louis, professional boxer.

"Money isn't everything, 

 but sometimes my banker won't accept anything  else."  
                  -- Lin Stone, professional writer.

But u know wat there is another side to d same coin..Money although being able to buy everything can at times become an avarice..Greed cannot be overcome..Its human to be greedy..We envy for a certain thing and wen we get it, we start coveting for something that’s even better..Its d very same wit money as well..In the recent Amitabh Bachchan flick “Teen Patti” d whole story revolves around one thing; that wat happens wen u hav earned loads nd loads of money..U start becoming crazy..U become irate..Ur simple happy go lucky lyf turns into something that’s nothing less than hell..U start making urself secluded..U start banishing ur friends..U start forgetting ur previous self..And wen u get fully frustrated wit all this, ur final cul-de-sac is felo-de-se..

Wen our pockets r full we don’t realize that in order to get this state we lose out on the smaller happiness’s of lyf..

“Mom u can take a 24 hour flight nd travel to New York but u can’t take a 3 hour flight nd come to meet me in Chennai??” said a gud friend of mine over d phone to his mom in Delhi..U won’t believe it, his parents r so so busy in earning money that they r hardly able to give time to him..But wen u ask him he says that they r earning all that for him only..That’s so true..!! Does ne1 see my predicament now..!!

I do firmly believe that happiness is in money..But people should know to control their greed for this happiness..Wen we r unable to control this our greed turns into a malady which is utterly incurable nd the final result is madness or even death.. Happiness is jst the absence of Sorrow..Happiness is not in Fame..Happiness is not in Success..Happiness is not in Power..And Happiness is not in Money as well..

So I would lyk to rest my argument by saying that its ur choice as to which side of this coin u decide to stick on wit..

Jaishree Ram,

Prats..