impossible is nothing ...

i had written about amazing marathoner - Fauja Singh earlier .. i am sure many were inspired by his life and story which was true manifestation of "impossible is nothing" ... recently, he was again in news - and further proving it in a tragic way since he died at 114 not for health reasons but due to accident (just!) 400 meters away from home! :(

this also reminded of another news where a "dead" person comes back to life due to the ambulance hitting a pot hole on the way :)

water the roots ..

 .. to enjoy the fruits!

nice quote that i heard today - by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ji .. when we attended an info. session about Transcendental Meditation (TM) here

 

this time - a phone number!

after many (odometer) number posts, this time it is about a phone number :-) i had another/alternate number which was deactivated due to negligence (maybe in Oct 2024?) .. i was able to still (partially) use it and hence did not bother .. and then one day it got re-assigned to someone else and that is when the disruptions made me realize the need to urgently "fix" it .. once someone else has it, it is technically too late :( .. and i thought i am good at negotiating or convincing (maybe i boast to myself that i propose win-win solution which is hard for anyone to disagree with!) .. and soon i realized it is my false ego .. i was quickly "blocked" .. i realized i need help and reached out to close family member (there was a suggestion to make it difficult for others, but my current focus on sadhanaa helped me stay calm and wish only well for everyone involved - sarve bhavantu sukhinaH - universe is friendly to you only when you are friends with all in this universe!) .. and it was solved in a very quick/efficient manner .. yes, grateful that i got the number back (after just mon-fri gap 17-21 Feb 2025 - that too across the seas!) - many lessons learnt - we might be growing but we are probably not complete alone and hence reach out and team up!

📱

one more sunrise

 

garbaa

 grateful to be able to bring together people for "ON Culture Days" garbaa :-) www.garbaa.ml

↱ (right) affirmation

"right" image from Adobe Stock (free)

First, I thought of "I am always at right place on right time with right people to do the right things"

and then I remembered ... as per श्वेताश्वर उपनिषद ... वयम् अमृतस्य पुत्राः .. so, I can even expand it to "we have right to be always at right place on right time with right people and resources to do the right things"

I am sure if we repeat this "right" positive affirmation so that it gets imprinted on our subconscious mind everything will go "right" :-)

apad-1

Erindale Park

A park a Day!

1st visit - Erindale Park :)

https://www.mississauga.ca/events-and-attractions/parks/erindale-park/

99 out of 100 is good enough ?!

 just finished '100 days or running' challenge for 2020 ... i could keep the self-commitment on 99 out of 100 days and i am happy ! ... grateful for the daily walks :-)

#comewhatmay was catchy - and that made me interested to explore this https://hdor.com/ in 2018 .. 

2020 was my 3rd consecutive year !! 

https://facebook.com/groups/769735296556908?view=permalink&id=1358265824370516 or https://bit.ly/HarshHDOR has one small write-up

what a day?!

with sun-rise starts one cycle of nature - and it was great to witness a rainbow

Yes! morning rainbow that too without rain was unusual treat i am grateful for :-)

and then in the night - i could witness the full-moon too :-)

Thank you GOD for the beautiful nature around all of us!

potatoes OR karma?

this is no ordinary bag of potatoes .. it is really special - it is one i bought from a big grocery store on Friday (29th May) evening .. but after paying for it - along with few other items - i left the checkout counter little absent minded maybe .. i forgot to pick it up (and i wasn't even aware)

i had checked it off from my list of things to buy - and came home with almost all things from that list .. and then i got a call (after an hour or so) from a friend - whom i did interact with at the store .. no hand-shake of course - just 'namaste' :-) from safe distance

he asked - did i forget a bag of potatoes at the store .. it so happened - that he was there with his dad - and they too bought a similar bag .. and they were just behind me at the counter - and out of confusion - they carried my forgotten bag of potatoes along with their rightfully purchased one .. only when they reached home and unloaded stuff from the vehicle - they realized they both carried one bag each of potatoes (assuming it was their own; the one they paid for) - and the friend mentioned it is extra one they carried - so was thinking to return it back to the store - when his father reminded him about me - and mentioned he did see me carry/pay for a bag of potatoes too ...

when he called and asked and explained the above situation - it is then i realized - i had not been aware that i was missing the bag of potatoes i was supposed to bring home along with other grocery items .. he then said he will drop at our place - soon - which actually happened on Mon (1st June)

i was very happy to know - that even in a big box store - where many do shopping - there was a friend sent by the almighty looking after my special bag of potatoes :-) .. really grateful to the universe for all the blessings

it reminded me of a subhashitam (#187 here)

यथा धेनुसहस्त्रेषु वत्सो विन्दति मातरम् |

तथा पूर्वकॄतं कर्म कर्तारमनुगच्छति ||

- महाभारत

yathaa dhenusahastreShu vatso vindati maataram |

tathaa puurvakRRItaM karma kartaaramanugachChati ||

- mahaabhaarata

which means "Calf recognizes its mother among the herd of thousands of cows; the same way, karma of previous birth (good and bad deeds) goes with the doer."

it also reminded me of somewhat similar incident i had experienced some 2 decades ago .. i was studying for one of my Master degree's interim exam at friends place overnight ... woke up in the morning and rushed for the exam venue - and while getting on to my two wheeler (a scooter) dropped my prized wrist watch (hmt brand) - and when i reached the venue - couldn't find it ... and then my friend (where i was studying overnight) came after me (on his own two wheeler) and asked me if i was missing my watch .. it so happened he noticed it and picked up .. and all fell in place for me by grace of Almighty .. :-)

i am grateful for the GRACE!

lost in space?

Sergei Krikalev
https://www.rbth.com/history/330415-last-soviet-citizen-cosmonaut

when we hit roadblocks in our life - we think we are the only ones with difficulties - or ours is the biggest challenge - that is when we should look around - and if we realize people have so many greater difficulties or tougher times - we might probably feel stronger to face our own situation ..

i recently revisited the story - a high performing astronaut was 'stuck in outer space' apparently for nothing of his own doing :-)

let's hope and pray everyone finds the right direction out of their 'darkness' - no matter how/where they are 'lost'

creative use of pizza box/cardboard

was felt joy to see usual cardboard for pizza delivery being put to creative use as shown below - has anyone else tried/seen such good example(s)?

catalyst

There is one interesting/well-known 'puzzle' I happened to think about again

A farmer wants to divide his 17 horses among his three sons. According to farmer the oldest son should get half of the horses, the middle son should get one third of the horses and the youngest son should get one ninth of the horses. When their father died they were not able to divide the horses as the result was coming in fractions. As the sons were fighting on how to divide the horses a traveling mathematician came and heard their problem. He proposed a solution with which all the sons got their share in the property without harming any animal. What was the advice given and how the group of horses were divided?

[Above referred from http://www.crazyforcode.com/17-horses-puzzle/]

Simple math leads to fractions (impractical in case of horses) .. The 'solution' is interesting as well  (creative or 'out-of-the-box') - a wise passerby 'offers' one of his own horses - and then when division/distribution is down from (now) 18 horses - not only they all get 'more' that they originally would have expected but also the passerby takes out his 'loaned' horse without any issue :-)

I was just pondering up on the role of passerby .. is it result of 'creativity' or should we consider 'divine intervention' helping us in such a way at times ... ?

'catalyst' is defined as "a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change."

[PS: It has been even pointed out - by few - that the fractions do not add up to whole unit 1 - and hence it is 'mathematically' flawed to begin with?]

you are ..

though I do not bank with ScotiaBank - I like their tag-line ... "You're richer than you think" ..

in fact, i like to believe -

we all ARE more ___ (insert any positive adjective) than we think!! ..

that is hopeful creative way of thinking - and it will strive us all to get better isn't it?

Hurricane @ 99

i was fortunate to meet (Chancellor) Hurricane Hazel and seek her blessing - when Sheridan is celebrating her 99th birthday (little belated) today

gold in dirt

y'day, in my blog - i mentioned about "gold"

i was looking for a particular phrase/story - but a quick search led me to  .. https://www.goldprospectors.org/News/ArtMID/406/ArticleID/668/In-The-DIRT-All-Eyes-on-Gold-Don%E2%80%99t-be-Fooled from where I read the following

You know upfront that if you’re going to find gold, you’re going to move a lot of dirt. Realistically, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold. You don’t go into the goldfields looking for dirt, you go in looking for gold!

there is inspiration all around us ..

i had long back written about how 'old' marathon runner - Fauja Singh - had started running only in his 60s - recently got reminded about him ... and similar (or even more impressive?) personality - https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/08/28/753479752/whatever-happened-to-the-101-year-old-champion-runner-from-india

age IS just a number :) :D found this nice image/quote on the internet

balloon story ...

I do not recall where/when I heard the story - I think more people should know and put it in practice in whatever ways they can in their given situation :-)

A group of kids were put together in a room with as many balloons - each kid's name was put up on one balloon - they were asked to find their "own" balloon - while they frantically tried to be "the first" they realized it was not easy - in fact, some balloons popped (blew off) - and hardly one or two might have found their own 'named' balloon after several minutes.

The same 'experiment' was repeated - but this time with little different set of 'instructions' - they were asked to pair up the balloon with the child whose name was on it (it was not competition anymore - rather collaboration) - the group soon realized it was much more calm environment (less anxiety) and many rightful owners found their 'own' balloon in comparatively less time.

i guess in life too - running blindly after my own happiness is more stressful and less effective/rewarding than even making a humble attempt to pair up someone with their joy

[I found one version here - https://www.slideshare.net/RishibhaKurichh/balloons-in-a-room]

visualize

The Secret resurfaces :-)

 I came across this article .. Visualizing Your Future Can Hack Your Brain and Change Your Life - and it makes me grateful again - the central thought is reminded once again ..

happy OR very happy

if my memory serves right (after all, it was more than a decade ago - mid 2009?), it was a great 'roller-coaster' ride in my real life

our family was all packed up for our new phase of life - for work, i was supposed to move out of country for an extended period - it involved lot of planning - we had to end our lease agreement with the landlord - there was furniture and household stuff to be packed/moved with selling or other related arrangement - our kids' education was also to be considered - though he was young, school leaving certificate and all such things were big part of the 'logistics' - many laps of this marathon were falling in place - there was excitement and other emotions/anxiety involved - but with grace of almighty GOD it was all moving ahead well ... (like 'layers of onion' - NOTE to SELF - another blog post?)

and THEN on last day (or 2 days) before the actual travel i received phone call from my employer (HR team) - i think it was on my way back home AFTER I collected my son's school leaving certificate (that too worked out nicely with so much helpful - out of way - support from his school and teacher) .. not so unusual in IT industry - but very 'uncomfortable' at that moment for us - information conveyed on that phone call was short and straightforward - it was Saturday or Sunday - and the message was travel that was supposed to happen on Monday has been INDEFINITELY POSTPONED!!

I was alone in the car - and I had two choices - to be HAPPY ... OR to be VERY HAPPY ... yes, if someone had watched me react then - they would be confused - have I gone MAD?

In normal situation it would be something to be very SAD and worried ... what about all the arrangements that has been going on for not days or weeks BUT months ? it was so close - just 1 or 2% of the marathon course was supposed to be covered ... I guess i too might have been 'bombarded' with negative emotions - feeling of helplessness or setback - but it was probably momentary - it was overshadowed with over joy! Yes, I was VERY HAPPY (or maybe that is how I forced my mind to counter the otherwise devastating situation) - I used my 'creative' logic to think - if all was going smooth and well as per plan and expectation - and if I was grateful to almighty GOD for his GRACE till now - there is NO reason to DOUBT - in fact, this was possible ONLY because of HIS intervention - I could feel blessed that he is PRESENT then and there looking AFTER us - so that we are saved from some future unseen troubles OR bigger setbacks - and when ALMIGHTY can craft such a miraculous unexpected turn of events - should I not CELEBRATE and REJOICE with GRATEFULNESS? it would be sheer disrespect of HIS blessings if I allow even slightest of sadness to dampen my spirits.

I put on very energetic positive upbeat song from the movie Rock On! in the car on loud volume and started to dance/sing along with it (while paying careful attention on the road as well) - and I am sure if someone who knew the details would have recommended direct trip to psychiatrist - but I instead went home VERY HAPPY - and somehow broke the news to the family .. our son was very young - but he still remembers the incident by saying - 'oh, you mean the time - when we did not have spoon in the home to eat our food' (we had to scramble for plastic cutlery for our meals) .. there were many compromises from so many for sometime

[all is well that ends well - the move eventually happened :-) ]

I am trying to 'train my brain' to be HAPPY when I get something I wanted and tried for and to be VERY HAPPY when i DON'T get it despite of trying hard (which is clear indication GOD has something better in place) - i TRUST that HE can certainly SEE much more than i can COMPREHEND

it might be easier if what is said in Bhagavad Geeta can be understood and practiced (we all might have failed umpteen times and hence felt sad) - do your 'karma' but don't get attached to the 'fruit' - whatever HE gives is after all 'prasad' - take it with blissful disposition and you will be in joy forever