Little Children taught me many Important lessons on life

Visited Divya Disha on 25th Feb, a very first for me,, had never been to a orphanage before. Learned so much from the children at the orphanage who under the most adverse circumstances still have the maturity to smile, laugh , cherish dreams, make friends, build bridges, show affection, are well mannered and above all look straight into your eyes without any prejudices. I am still putting the notes for the post but sharing the pictures right way.




http://picasaweb.google.com/skonnur98/DivyaDishaLittleChildrenTeachMeManyImportantLessonsOnLife

Meet the ' REAL' life Aamir Khan

Visited Sadhana - Insitute for the Welfare of Mentally Challenged on 24th Feb - satuday.. Still writing the notes but sharing the pictures.. met the real life Aamir Khan

http://picasaweb.google.com/skonnur98/MeetTheREALLifeAamirKhan

Ode to my daughter (the unborn)

This is a peom that I wrote a decade before Sakshi was born therefore the title --


Ode to my daughter ( the unborn)


Nothing to me would look more fair,
then your smile, your love, your heart, your stare
nor would anything be more pleasent to hear
then your whisper, your song, your cry, your cheer



Nothing ever would give me more surprise
then in my arms, when you open your eyes
nor would anything give me more peace
when I cuddle you and you go to sleep


Nothing would give me more strength
when you grow and alone can life withstand
nor would anything fill my heart with more joy
when you go with your bridegroom and make me cry

What Nature Taught Me !!!!

While staying in Cleveland, had an amazing view of several miles of lush green forest !!! As Summer turned into Autumn, the trees displayed different hues of various colors. Slowly as Auturm turned into Winter, the tress shed all their leaves and were covered in a blanket of while snow ..and thats when I left in January of 2008. Someday I will return to Cleveland to photograph the same forest in its summer glory of 'bright green' . Below are the pictures of the same part of the foliage taken during different seasons and the stark contrast they represent .. and what did nature taught me ?

It taught me that if the mighty nature has to live in this cycle of happiness (summer - spring) and misery (autumn -winter) so do we all humans .. life at its very essence is a cycle of summer & winter and each one of us needs to make the most of the summers of our life and 'keep quite' when its winter in our lives , just like nature, with the belief that some day .. summer surely with come !!! And sure enough it does !!!

Times of Great Change

The post describes how I want to conduct my life going forward & why !

The Universe - Carl Sagan describes the cosmos as " the only thing that ever was , is and ever will be " Hours of watching the science channel especially programs on the Universe, had a profound influence on my thinking. Fact that everything in the universe has a set pattern of birth, life and death is remarkable -- be it Earth, Sun or the Milky way,, it all has to end one day in the future. The fact that moon is travelling 2.5 inches away from the earth every year and that Earth will cease to exist as a habitable planet in the next 5 billion years. It made me realize that our human existence really has no bearing on the laws of the Universe and infact we are so insignificant in what Carl Sagan calls the " Immensity and Eternity" of the cosmos. Conclusion -- this moment in time will never come again not just in my life, but in the life of the entire Universe
( Gates Mills Place - my home for 9 months)

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You only live once ---- Heavily influenced by the American thought process in the context of trying to live well & live in the now, as we only live once.. compared that to the Indian philosophy of somehow going thru the paces of life , surviving one day at a time. We are going to have just one life in eternity (American philosophy) and compared that to this is just one of the lives I am going to live (Hindu philosophy). It just shakes me everytime to think that this day & life I am living will never come again ever, suddenly you feel a sense of urgency ... a need to make something out of your life,, not for anybody else but for your own sake.. (Penske Office, Beachwood, OH)

Philosophy of Rebirth I dont deny. There could be some sicence of spirits that has not been discovered yet, what I am against is not trying to make the most of this life thinking we can somehow do a better job in the next one

What to invest in ?
Keeping to the same thought I made a consious decision that going forward in addition to my family & career I would spend time, money & energy on the following:

• Fitness, Health & Lifestyle
• Travelling, exploration
• Education / learning

Buying expensive assets that do not address the above would be out of scope

The only thing we carry from birth to death and beyond (if at all) are our experiences, thoughts and feelings.

Importance of a dream - goal -- it is a great feeling to wake up every morning with some dream or goal.. I hate any morning that I wake up and do not know what I would be doing. The goal need not be a grandiose one, may be I want to create my blog today or spend quality time with family could be a goal too, the idea is to have something objective to accomplish, subject ourselves to more accountabality of how we spend time !

Individual Social Responsibility -- so far most of my philanthropic activities were either donating money to charities or temple trusts. Would now get actively involved in not just donating money but commiting my time & energy as well. Would be supporting as many social improvement causes in a year as possible. It helps us appreciate & be thankful for what we have. Also makes me look at life from a different perspective all together.

There is no feeling like being fit ----- I like staying fit, eating healthy . , I believe that a healthy mind can only exist in a healthy body. The change that Baba Ramdev is bringing in that regards is really appreciable that both mind & body are connected . And I have embraced that philosophy completely,, a fit body is essential for a healthy mind...
(Parma Temple - one of the most
Beautiful temples I ever visited, used to spend hours in this tranquil set up)


Nourish my mind ---- keep working hard to convert my mind from a prison to a prism... radiating ideas

Relationships are everything - Invest in them
(Thought Corridor - Penske Office,
spend hours walking up & down this
corridor)
Eat in moderation- Eat till your hunger is satisfied and not till the time your stomach cannot take it anymore. We overeat most of the time,, our right sized lunch, dinners are all excess.

All these are great expectations from myself time will tell if I have the strength or the wherewithal to live upto them. And the idea of putting them down on the blog is to drive myself , make me more accountable.

From a 15 min jog to a 150 min marathon

When the name of your blog is ' Keep Walking' you would definately need good pair of running shoes. Took the first step towards developing my passion for running.... Nov 07

My old Nike shoes of 3 years, and the new 'New Balance' running shoes,, first step towards a dream. But the old shoes did serve me well and it was an emotionally difficult decision to part ways.....

The Stationary bycycle - Gates Mills Place - Fitness Center - 12 miles - 20 mins - 6 days a week

Cross Training - Gates Mills Place - Fitness Center - 1 hour - 6 days a week

Treadmill - Gates Mills Place - Fitness Center - Starting running on this treadmill from an average of 15 mins in Oct , during the last days in Jan before I travelled back, used to run for 155 mins every third day...

1st Jan 2008 - 4:30 am -- took a picture of myself in the fitness center to remind me of the sacrifices necessary to accomplish anything ( My practice treadmill in the back)

one milestone in life acomplished,,, many many more yet to cross .. hope I dont lose my way again