What next after success?

OK, so you are successful. What next after being successful?

Look at Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc. Steve helped to invent the personal computer, helped to launch the mouse driven graphical interface, helped to launch the MP3 business, helped launch computer animations at Pixar and is currently the Walt Disney Company's largest individual shareholder and a member of its Board of Directors. And he’s not done – right?

The point is, just like skiing, the goal is not how fast to get to the bottom of the hill, but the goal is to have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets.

Revisiting Ghalib

It was in the year 1992 when I was in Bahrain that I happened to listen for the first time to a few ghazals by Jagjit & Chitra Singh from their album entitled “Mirza Ghalib”. At that time I hardly paid any attention to the poetry as I was simply mesmerized by Jagjit’s soulful & mystical voice complimented by Chitra’s unique crystal clear and sweet vocals.

It was after a gap of almost 16 years that I listened again to the same ghazals but this time Ghalib’s poetic genius was what swept me off my feet. And I started wondering and imagining what kind of a person in real life he must have been. Luckily the entire serial on his life, produced and directed by Gulzar was available on video.google.com.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching it – it was the first time that I was doing that & some of the scenes enacted by Naseerudin Shah, who plays Ghalib & Tanvi Azmi, who plays his wife were so beautiful and realistic that I have nothing but appreciation for them and Gulzar. The entire story about Ghalib’s life has tragic underlying connotations, but nevertheless there are some moments that evoke a smile & even a giggle perhaps. There is a scene where his wife challenges Ghalib to go and marry a second time to which he responds

Paaon ki ek hi beidhee ne mushkil mein daal diya hai

Doosri bhi pehen lee to chalne se hi nachaar ho jaoonga

Meaning

Even the one shackle on one of my feet is causing me problems

If I wear another shackle then I won’t be able to walk at all

Once Ghalib tells his wife that he is very sad, to which she retorts that he never seems to look sad & to this Ghalib replies

Unke dekhe se aa jaatee hein muhn par raunak

Wo samajhte hein ke beemaar ka haal achcha hai

Meaning

As soon as my beloved sees me, my face starts glowing

And she thinks that I am all right & not ill any more

In another scene, Ghalib’s wife nudges him and asks him if he is not even afraid of God? To which he replies with a smile

Darta wohi hai jiske paas koi poonji ho

Tumhare paas eemaan hai is liye darti ho

Aur hamaare paas siwaaye is eemaan wali ke kuch nahin hai

Meaning

The only person who is afraid is the one who has some possessions

You possess faith & therefore you are afraid

And I have nothing except you - the possessor of faith

Which jail is better?

Mirza Ghalib, one of the greatest poets from India, was once in jail for a period of six months. One morning, he heard a man crying from the adjoining room. On enquiring from the jail attendant, he came to know that a young man had been found guilty of some crime and would have to spend 3 months in custody.

Ghalib went to the man asked him.

"What is the matter my friend, why are you crying?"

"I have to spend three months in this jail...", the man replied between sobs,

"So what?"

"You don't understand, I was about to get married today, and I ended up here..."

"You should thank God for that, that you were just saved from a life sentence. Believe me, 3 months you will spend easily here, but imagine how much you might have suffered being a captive for all your life. You should also be thankful to the policeman who caught you & by catching you even he has inadvertently done something good in his life."

The pen is mightier than the sword

Woh baadshah hai talvaar ke
Hum kalam ke shahenshah hai

Unka mulk cchin sakta hai
Hamari milkiat koi nahin ccheen sakta

Ghalib

meaning

He is a king by means of his sword
But I too am a prince of the pen

His kingdom can be snatched away
But my property (the art of writing poetry) cannot be taken away by anyone


This applies to bloggers as well I guess!

Definition of homework, profession & vacation

When you sit at home and worry - you call it homework
When you sit in the office and worry - you call it profession.
When you sit on the beach and worry - you call it vacation.

If you carry your worries with you all the time, your life will remain unchanged.

Right decision for the wrong reason

There were 3 persons undergoing treatment at a lunatic asylum. The doctor in charge was pretty confident that they were progressing well and would soon be cured. So after a month's treatment he called all the 3 of them in front of a large and deep empty swimming pool. He asked the 1st person to jump in the pool, who gladly did so & broke his hand. The next person also jumped, and he broke his leg. Now the doctor asked the 3rd person to jump.
"No doctor, not me".

The doctor was elated, that at least this fellow was cured.
"Good, go and fetch your things, you can go home now",the doctor told him.
"But by the way, can you tell me why you did not jump".
"I am not mad, doctor, I do not know swimming"

Don't we also sometimes do the same thing? - take a right decision for the wrong reasons, think about it!

Traffic Patient

Tune in to any radio station of UAE like 89.1 or 101.6 or 95.3 FM and you will always find people calling up the radio jockeys and informing them about traffic jams. The RJ's acknowledge these so called jam busters and advise the people on the roads to avoid a particular road. I sometimes wonder whether it really must be helping people, especially those who want to reach a particular destination and that's the only road that they can take. But yesterday, I was quite amused to listen to a lady who called up the radio jockey and described her woes of being stuck for the last 2 hours in front of a petrol station, and described herself as a "traffic patient". It seems that the people around her had given up and many had crossed the road and fetched themselves tea/ coffee and were standing on the sidewalks enjoying the view. However, more than her story, I liked the term "Traffic Patient" so much, that it compelled me to post this blog. Isn't it such an appropriate term to describe a person's condition stuck in traffic?

A traffic patient can be described as one who has the following symptoms

1. He / she always tends to get stuck in traffic for hours together.

2. He / she has pain in the right leg (feet, toe, thighs, knees) because of applying brake and accelerator after every 15 seconds and sometimes continuously for an hour or so.

3.He / she suffers from hypertension because each car seems to be trying to overtake him / her by doing some manouvres that he / she could never dream of.

4.He / she suffers from chronic headaches, eye stress etc because he / she has to concentrate on the road completely against his / her wishes.

You might have read the famous cliche "Every problem is actually an opportunity knocking at your door". So can the traffic problem also be an opportunity? Yes, if you think along these lines:

1. If you are a doctor, you can advertise that you specialise in treating traffic patients, that you have special medicines to cure headaches, eyes irritation, feet - toes-knees-thighs-aches.

2. You can open a massage parlour that specialises in giving special " anti-traffic" massage. Think of a good jingle to place an ad.

3. If you are a Toastmaster, getting stuck in traffic is the best opportunity to practice your speech. In fact, if your husband / wife dislikes you preparing a speech at home, just go out for some work in the car and prepare your speech while you are stuck in traffic. I have done that several times and no, it does not seem odd to others who look at you because they think that you are speaking to somebody on hands free.

4.Open a workshop specialising in installation of the latest DVD player with a built in 8 inch screen that can play movies of all formats mpeg, avi, flv, divx, wma etc etc. You can market this by telling people that they can gainfully use the time they waste in waiting in traffic jams, by catching up on the latest movies or serials. If priced reasonably, the demand to install these DVD players will be so high that it is an assured way to become a millionaire.

Can you think of more?

But this really - takes the cake- it is what my friend from Dubai had to say about the traffic situation in Dubai. "Sajid, these days I am spending more time in my car than with my wife, but it is difficult to say which is better".