Belgaum, India

As curtains part in welcome to the morning of the day, a grey and dull wetness greets you across the window. It is strange, it is unseasonal, it is not expected, but perhaps welcomed in some quarters - certainly not for those that build roof and home on the outdoors ! Temperatures fall, some added and padded clothing emerge upon the elders, and a sniffle accompanies members of the house. But work … that never stops, regardless !!

Children .. and those that move in abandoned freedom … make for the most true and vivid expressions in a situation that brings laughter and admiration for them ! Many in today’s work do just that … and our joy is boundless ! They be the best, that do not dwell in consciousness !

Free and freedom dominate them, that are in temperament, unconcerned of that around them. Much of this holds true for most in almost all situations. Why give attention to one that expresses expressions in free spirited abandon. Most of us bring on the most hideous contradictions upon us, through the self. Left on its own, contradictions would die an unnatural and a rather rapid death. It is an unwanted representation of all that ‘reeks of garlic from every pore’. Destroying ones own mind and body through the elements of anger and distaste, is an addition best subtracted.

The problem with bearing grudge is that you shall need to remember all that brought it on for you, and some … till eternity ! The problem of not bearing any is a clearance of so many doors and windows that fill your mind .. and perhaps the body as well … doors locked shut and sealed perhaps, which would need to be forcibly opened through immense wastage of energy and guile ..

How productive it would be if we were to be made immune to the process of anger building. An entire process of moving forward, of fresher and newer thoughts, of glory in invention and progress, would all be inadvertently destroyed - destroyed to such extent that they would be unrecognisable and depleted of any value !

Recommend it not to me .. I will not have any of it. Anger and manipulation and covert operation requires deviations, often not necessary. Peace and the joys of happiness requires not what the other does !

I could suggest to the some, of the dangers that may befall. I could gift example ..but still never be sure of its practice. Best then to be away and aloof from it all, even at the cost of perhaps acquiring, some other, that could be a better replacement !!

I relent … I retire .. I must ..


Best Regards

Harish Nayak

WEEK 52, PUNE, INDIA

A quiet day ! Almost in keeping with the piousness of the moment – the mass for Christ ! A day filled with wishes and sincere exhortations for peace and love and forgiveness. For happiness and joy. For reaching out to others with tidings of cheer and goodness.

So many unending adjectives and adverbs pertaining to everything that symbolizes the good. And minus the single ‘o’, in good, in God.

Do the perpetrators of evil and hatred and terror. Of merciless killing and destruction. Of conniving and plannings to destroy, ever think of these symbols of good ? Do they honestly believe that motivated evil, constructed and executed by them ever find acceptance in any form of civil existence ?

What mode of temperament builds such human ? How do they breathe and exist in this stifling self imposed wretched environment ? Do they not possess normal human traits; laughter and tears and feelings ? Do they not succumb to sleep; the most vulnerable state of any living being ? Do they not thirst and hunger for water and food, like all others ? Do they not clothe themselves to shelter indignity from social norms ?

Who are these people that live and think in illusion ? A mascaraed misadventure, ill-proportioned beyond redemption !!

Most of the day unfolds in spending time with such thoughts. There is an auspicious air about, but, restrained with caution and uncertainty. The year comes to an end. Will it end the apprehensions that we lived with as the digits change on the calender ?

A friend of mine asked me what my expectations were for the coming year, as is their wont at this time. I told him ” I hope I can keep living “. Really what else can one say. If I have life if I can survive, that would be the greatest gift to myself. In order to do something it is essential to exist. And I seek that.

The gracious trouble taken by all in delivering their wishes on the blog is greatly acknowledged. I wish for peace and happiness too. For Christmas and for the coming year.

Some more interesting stuff came out from the email and I post it for your entertainment.

There comes a point in your life when you realize :

Who matters,

Who never did,

Who won’t anymore…

And who always will.

So don’t worry about people from your past,

There’s a reason why they didn’t make it to your future.

****

Enjoy..

And my love,

Harish Nayak

WEEK 53, BELGAUM, INDIA

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year  2014 !!  

To all my extended family, may this day and all the coming days be full of just unlimited happiness and joy. May all your wishes come true, may family and friends remain out of harm and illness. May there be peace among us, to imbibe adversity and confrontation with love and care. And may we be as always with each other holding hands, sharing caring and loving each other ! So help me God !!

For the first time ever in my remembrance, brother brought in a Christmas tree in the house and decorated it with the finest trappings of all that goes to make it look inviting and attractive. But more, he hung little gifts for us all and as the midnight hour struck, asked us over to look for our goodies. It was so sweet and generous and considerate to have done all that – and all done quietly, all by himself ! Oh ! Such a wonderful moment. We had a few guests over for dinner and he had gifts for them as well. So well thought out and executed ! Everyone was quite quite overwhelmed !

The guests at dinner were then treated to some special cooking by mom, and I have to say that even for ‘conservative indian vegetarian food addict me’ it was a delight. There was laughter and happy conversation, great revelations and stories of interest on the dining table, everyone holding tightly to their gifts off the christmas tree !

And as I sit down to pen my thoughts (strange that we still use this expression even though there is the absence of the inked pen ), I am so nostalgic of the many christmas eves celebrated throughout these years ! The midnight carol singing in the cold of northern India, the coffee breaks to keep us warm and awake, those visits to the neighbors and then the little gifts that we received when we went across. The special cake and pastry for the occasion. The mid night mass that we attended with all our friends in the nearby church and just such a feeling of warmth and happiness throughout. ” 

A very large contingent of the official colleagues visited me again today – its raining extended families here in office – and it was such a joy to be with them and theirs, to exchange greetings and gifts brought across with such thoughtfulness and feeling. I am ever so grateful to them all and for their kindness and love. God bless you ! And I shall respond to each separately in time to come, thank you !

And as the year comes to an end, one cannot but feel a sense of sadness and jubilation all at once. The good that happened, the bad that overcame us. The trials we faced and the triumphs we accomplished. The faces we met, the situations we encountered. The distances we travelled, the territories we discovered. The love that we received, the abuse that we endured. The tears that we shed and the tears that we wiped. The laughter of loved ones, the playful presence of the young. That hand of help that you extended, that reprimand that you received. The feel and touch of reverence in divine company, the disappointment of unanswered prayer. The exhilaration of success, the remorse of failure. The joy of acquisition and equally its sudden loss.

And lastly – the benevolence of the Almighty through all of this and more …

Thank you Lord for your grace and sustained care ; to keep me human and with life !

View of the Church of Belgaum, where i am going to go for Christmas eve.

 

Love

Harish Nayak

WEEK 52, NEW DELHI, INDIA

As the events of last night sink in, one realises what a great honour and moment in our lives the magnitude of it all exhibits. We are not deserving of it, but some feel we are. Greatness does not lie in us, it lies in the belief of others, that they think so. And so we submit to them in all humility. And we persevere as always in the days to come, to continue to propel our minds in a direction that shall keep us wishing and wanting to to perhaps reach that stage where we feel further challenged. To accomplish that which we may have not been able to overcome. To attempt, to struggle, to make effort, to move that centimetre perhaps in the right direction. To not be dissuaded by adverse comment. To be in welcoming all that which is negative and to be inspired enough to disprove it. Not in revenge, but in reinvention. Of oneself, of our being and of our own manifestations …

As I laze about in my environs at home in Delhi, I feel the need of a reduction in pressures of work. And I wonder what may I do if I were to do that. Life has been most generous and kind to me, that I often feel if I merely stopped it would be an injustice to all that life by the grace of the Almighty gave me. And so I work .. and hope .. and endeavour, to continue doing what I feel I must .. for, none else shall decipher what each of us know of ourselves, but us ..

Winters in Delhi are magnificent ! Comparisons with other winters all over the world may not be a fare judge of what this means - each destination has its own interpretations of it. But for one that has spent some of the most formative days here it has its own special meaning.

I drove by my old home at 13, Willingdon Crescent, now named differently, and the first thought that came was the very early morning misty and fogged environment and getting out from my gate for a run down to the first crossing a mile away and back, the cold and freezing breeze numbing the nostrils and the finger tips. The ease of run in the beginning, ending up in the last 100 meters into a sprint much like the last lap of a competition in the athletic track events one sees at the Olympics or any International meet … gasping for breath, easing out with a walk in the lawn of the house, and then those favoured glasses of milk and egg flip .. horrid in taste, but as my Father would urge me on in drinking it with those encouraging words - ” how delicious !”, the same he would say when we were younger and had to face the ordeal of that morning spoon of cod liver oil !! Remember ?? Or perhaps many of you were too young for those times, or too accustomed to more refined and tastier supplements …. !!!

But winters in Delhi … always attractive and pleasant .. the mild sun throughout the day, the fire in the drawing room, the pista, badaam, kishmish, and the chilgoza … 

…. and just as winter onsets, the warm clothes being brought out from well stored boxes by Mother to be aired in the sun and the smell of wool all around … the many evenings with Ma at coffee stops, the smell of freshly ground coffee, as you snuggled in your shawls and pullovers … the gagak, and the rewari in abundance … and the pink blossoms and the nargis flowers, the dehliyas and roses and all kinds of variety colors in them … 

…the sprint in the morning from 13, to the University DTU bus that stopped on South Avenue, those permanent familiar faces, the banter, the laughter and fun… bunking classes to go to the street behind our respective College to listen to the cricket commentary on radio of the Test Match being played … crunching and munching the mooli and kakdi with salt and pepper .. 

so much to talk of and so much to embellish our thoughts with …

So wonder what am i doing now 

Reading Anna Karenina in a coffee shop. Its a classic... Loving it.

“All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.”
 

― from "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy

Love and more 

Harish Nayak

WEEK 52, NEW DELHI, INDIA

Okay am fed up of this Tab.. 

Seems there is some problem with that. Have contacted the company representative and he has assured me of sorting out the problem today itself.

So for friends those who had been wondering as to why i haven't posted any blog for few days. I had written 3 blogs in 2 days. And by mistake all written was not saved and got lost.

Sorry for those who were waiting to read.

Meanwhile just that my few blogs are lost, i couldn't recover now. But since many days i was wanting to ask you a question Shall i???

Que: Shall i continue writing my blog the way i do?

Que: Do all of you are really interested in reading my blog daily?

Que: What more you expect me to write? Suggestions are always welcome.

Expecting your answers in my email as soon as possible.

Till then guys, good night and sweet dreams.

Regards

Harish Nayak

WEEK 52, NEW DELHI, INDIA

A moment of great pride for India … the new Air Terminal T2 built by GVK, dear friends .. it is a marvel and will certainly become the best in the world .. being inaugurated on the 14/15th of January by the Prime Minister ..

I was taken around for a visit by Sanjay Reddy who is building it and it must be said that I have never ever seen another airport in any part of the world so beautiful and different as this .. its in the finishing stages … but it is still so awesome .. 

Curtain … ??? No … its made of aluminium in the shape of a curtain and the lights behind are depictive of Diwali … as you move past it, the design flickers like ‘diyas’ on the festive day … but really this is nothing .. the art work and the antiques along a 2 km wall is just incredible

That is the check in or after the immigration and customs counter ..

…. and that is the baggage recovery … !! Baggage recovery ?? yes my dears .. looks like the lobby of a very expensive Hotel ..

These unique pillars hold up the entire structure .. and take you down to green gardens all around and the fantastic art work .. 

At one location dedicated to cinema, there is YOURS TRULY too .. haha h .. was funny to have been through that.

No … that has nothing to do with the cookie .. that is the front of the airport as you get off a plane .. a meet and greet area ..

After one sees such artistic beauty, one wonders if one shall ever be able to get the time and the energy to be able to do so much that has not even been attempted …

Famous words … but leave no meaning behind .. 

More sometimes later.. till then love you all...

Regards

Harish Nayak

WEEK 51, NEW DELHI, INDIA

Back to India after a 9 hr flight from London. Its coming up to 3 AM, but the connect is a must, even though I have to report to my office by 7 AM !!

The hemisphere as you fly through is relatively calm at 36,000 ft, though deep down below the cover of heavy white clouds prevents the vision of the land as it goes by. Until … you reach Iran overhead ! Suddenly the skies clear up and the white snow capped mountains north of Tehran, majestic and high and almost at arms length draw your breath away, because its sunset and the remaining glow of the setting sun washes the tops of the mountains in a pink light ! Absolutely amazing ! And then before you can hardly not have enough of it, the golden moon ahead in the sky breaks through a gentle mist of cloud in the distance and the marvel of nature mesmerizes you.

Some of the brightest ideas emotions and thoughts come to you at 35,000 ft ! Did I say this before somewhere ? Anyway I say it again. And even though most of them seem improbable, they do leave one thinking. Also, is it the air that you smell up there, or the relative speed of the cabin within, that pushes the body to greater emotion. I wonder. Every thought process though, runs along with the beneficial background score as it were, in your mind. And as the imagination runs wild so does the emotional chord inside. You find your eyes getting moist, at the silliest of thoughts. And its not a most welcome sight to present to an efficient cabin hostess that comes along to check if we are comfortable !

The cabin crew still request for that photo op in the galley and some of them still ask for the odd autograph. Its reassuring to know that they do. Somewhere they still believe that I am an World Class Personality. Thank God for that! The profession and its unique demands keeps one alive and ticking. I will be in front of the seminar's tomorrow and the anticipation and the nerves today, of getting it all right for tomorrow, will I am certain, diminish the very limited sleeping that remains for me tonight.

And before I make a hasty end to this short missive …

Do I really come across as a manipulative, selfish and arrogant, self centered, good for nothing beast, that would bring distress and discomfort to individuals. Am I really in right terms a bad man ? For there are some who single minded believe and think so !!

Aahhhh !! Just forget about it. Idle musings of happenings that should not happen.

My love and more as ever before and after ..

Harish Nayak