Elevator Observations

I wanted to write a quick post to share my elevator observations,

The first thing is that - it does not matter if a button is lit (indicating that it is already active), people (at least most people, there are always exceptions) press it again. I mean even inside the elevator, if your floor button is already lit up, they hit it again anyways. Now, I'm not innocent of this. We've all done it. You're in a hurry, you get into an elevator and hit a button without even thinking or realizing it's already lit up. I'm not talking about those people. I mean the people that habitually feel the need to double hit.

I was waiting for the elevator in the 6th floor lobby to go down to the cafeteria. I had already pressed the down arrow button indicating that I need to go down. Then came this another person who looks at me, looks at the elevator and presses the down button again....as if I am totally incompetent of summoning a elevator or re hitting the button will reposition the elevator queue and make it come faster...

Next time somebody does this - I might have to say--"Oh this is so vintage and you have to press the button...in the future where I come from, you have floor sensors which does it for you"

The second thing is that I always seem to meet some high level executive of my company in the elevator and I am never ready with my 30 second speech :( 30 second speech also known as Elevator speech is to put together some very conscise information (me and concise..that in itself is a contradictory things) to your manager or executive about who you are and how you are an asset to the company and group or something to that effect :) So I always end up saying a Lame Hello and shuffling my feet and wishing that the sixth floor comes up quickly and wondering if I should ask the executive about pay increases while I stare at the floor numbers on the elevator display. ..Next time maybe I can have a good speech ready or at least try :)

:) More Elevator observations to come :) Please feel free to post some of your own observations on this.

Childhood and Memories

I was at Jagjit Singh Concert this past Saturday with Rajesh and my friend Anjali. It was nice, not great. I am not a great Gazal fan but wanted to hear some of his famous movie songs etc. But he was singing all new songs probably from his latest album which I did not know about and did not enjoy much. But the live music was amazing and out of this world. Esp the Violinist and Sitarist.

But as soon as he started singing "Yeh Kagaz Ki Kasthi" song, the crowd was in an uproar. They were like WOW. I had not liked this song much earlier even though I had heard it a lot, but that day sitting there and just thinking about the lyrics of this song made so much sense. I mean I long so much for those worry free child hood days, the days when there things were simple, easy and enjoyable. There was no judging of people, no worries about calories or dieting, no worries about bills to be paid or savings :D Not that these are necessarily bad things, but just things had seemed so much more simple and lot more enjoyable.

As I was thinking about this, another thought came to my mind, the memories from childhood are stronger. What I mean is, if you ask me what I did for last Christmas or Diwali, I can tell you what I did factually. But if you ask me what I did for my summer vacation during my 8th grade, I can narrate it with emotion and feelings. I can remember the Hunise Gojju (Tamarind Sauce) that my grand mother made with such clarity. I can even feel the taste of it today in my mouth. I can tell you how the grass felt to my feet as I walked out side in the back yard or how the soft skin of the new born calf felt to my hands......

So somehow the childhood memories seem to have more emotions in them...is that just how our brain works where as we grow older it is more factual? Or is how we have become...if the later is true, then it is truly sad :(

Just my musings....Feel free to share your thoughts on this :)

Happy Thanksgiving and have a great long weekend. :)

Is Happiness the ultimate goal of life

Many hold the belief that the ultimate goal in life is to be in a state of complete contentment, free of struggle and suffering. However, one must take into consideration that all things are relative. Without salt, there is no sweet; without dark, there is no light; without suffering, happiness cannot exist.

A life consisting only of happiness would quickly lose its beauty. It would be living life in a straight line; every day, happiness would deteriorate further into normalcy, until finally one would be caught in a state of boredom. Happiness would become like a drug – more and more would be needed to lift the spirits until, finally, stagnation would be the only sensation remaining, there being no further levels of happiness to be achieved. The smallest hitch in a plan would feel like ultimate devastation.

So what are my thoughts on this? Happiness is one of the goals of life not the ultimate goal. If feeling content was all we needed then we need not be intelligent for that. Cows in the pasture are quite content with their state of being. So, we need to look at our lives - what is our purpose, what is our function and what we want to be? I want to be a good person, while feeling happiness among all the other suffering and worries we might have. I want to work out the challenges of life with the help of my family and friends and I want to make the world a better place with small steps :)

Happiness is flourishing and growing in the midst of crisis. Happiness is to love life, enjoy the purpose of your life and be who you want to be (Or who you are)

One of the examples of a happy person I can think of is the character Andy Dufresne from The Shawshank Redemption. Despite his predicament, he found a way to flourish and triumph. He built a library, amassed a fortune, helped others, played chess, got revenge, and tunneled his way out of that place. That character gives us an example to live by.

What about Forest Gump Movie? He was naive, but it was Love, Love of life, love of things he wanted to do that made him happy :)

Some thoughts from my side :) Please feel free to share your thoughts on Happiness and goals of life.