The sky is the limit !

let me tell you a story
this not my story
but its a story that wants telling
there was a girl i knew
....i remember her as a shy girl...
let me call her Priya.
She belonged to a very conservative family.A family that was bound to its tradition and values,it was a family that believed that the rightful place of a girl is at home,a family that believed that the girls even though educated should never breakout of the charmed circle of the family.

Priya ,being a good and a sensible girl always went along with the beliefs of her family.She knew they loved her well and wanted just to protect her.While she was living her life being practical ,good and sensible; her heart was unfolding its own dream to her..

Within the core of a heart there was an ambition that fit nowhere in the life that she was brought up to lead,this is what she had to say...neither do i want to be a teacher or a scholar nor an engineer.What i want to do is fly...is it possible?

It wasn't possible.There was no other thought in her mind ,no other desire in her heart.All her life she had been a girl who would be accompanied by family wherever she went.Even for school outings she had had to take special permission!

What happened later is what matters most..

Priya was true to her ambition.She flew to the US to learn to fly!

And she would be a pilot...she would fly...

So i call her...my hero...

The boy who would be a man.

Casual,clumsy, lazy & easygoing were some of the words that Aashwin would use to descibe himself,and that too when he was being generous.
Let me tell you who he is...
A young boy who would get out of bed or from his favourite sofa only when his favourite snack would run out of easy access,then he would take a few lazy steps to the family refrigerator ,gather his supplies only to trudge back to his sofa & settle in front of the TV.

He went to school without the requisite text books but armed with all kinds of candy!
He would make fun of all that he could with a sharp witty humour...for inspite of all his efforts to hide it ,his fine intellect would show.Beneath the cynical exterior ,there was a rich mind ,an idelistic temperament & a quite emotion.
An emotion that would encompass not only his immediate friends & family but also all his countrymen...his nation.

The spark was there...
It was yet to turn into flame...
One day he encountered himself...he asked himself ...it was at the age of sixteen..when the rest of his schoolmates were acting silly over girls , i pods & boozing.
This is what he had to say..

Am i only that i seem to myself and to others?Why is it that i am concerned over larger issues ?Why am i not like the others who can not look beyond themselves?
Why cant i just let go ..not think the way i think?
.....If i can be myself...passionate,patriotic,real....really myself.

After days of agonising over it,thinking and thinking some more,he straightened out the intricacies of his own mind.From now on he would be ..the person he was meant to be.
Ashwin worked out like crazy...gave up on the candies he loved so much...he knew that he was going to serve his nation ,his people & his idealism.
He did exactly what he sat out to do,It took a lot of determination,courage & hard work.

The boy who would be a man..and an officer & a gentleman!

so i call him...my hero..

YEAH...GIRL,YOU CAN !

This is a true story.This is not my story.But it has affected me. A girl comes to the big bad city to study & work hard at forging a bright future for herself.Let me call her Mynah.

She is talented , intelligent & confident.She holds her own in a new school and a new city.She makes friends ...and settles to her study.

Mynah knows her mind.She has made many tough decisions .She has a worried yet supportive father, a sick but caring mother and a loving family ..back home.

A girl who has her & a strong desire to fulfil the dreams of all her loved ones.She feels that she must accomplish many a things for those who are waiting for her back home.However she began to feel the stress...

i m so confused....i dont know what i want...i dont want to write anymore exams...i am not up to it...i feel lack of confidence...i feel incapable...n sad...all d tym....do i give up?

This is what she had to say.Mynah is a strong girl.With her is the strength of her family and all those who love her.Apart from that she is capable ,competent and confident enough to take on the world.Stumbling within the dark corridors of insecurities of her own creation,she made herself sick with worry...doubting herself each step of the way.One day she decided to give it all up & return home..

The fact that she did not give in to her insecurities,the fact that decided to be true to her own self and the fact that she found her own way is what makes her a winner.Who amongst us does not suffer anxiety ,worry &self doubt?How many amongst us battle it so bravely each step of the way to emerge believing in ourselves.She did so....

so i call her...my hero.

Math-o-phobia

This is a true story.This is not my story.But in a way i was a part of it.There is a girl.Let me call her Renee.She was the youngest in her family.All her family was composed of bright and accomplished scholars.Her dad was an engineer,so was her elder brother.;and her elder sister was pursuing an MD.And then came along this girl who had a flair for languages,creative writing,dramatics....dance.You name it ,she had it.Yes she had it all,all that did she had did not matter to her.All that mattered to her ,she did not have,that is a proficiency in maths.

She had,her family spoke of it as they would of a disease, a problem with math.

In other circumstances it would have been pardonable,but in hers it was criminal.Her family pushed her,scolded her,taunted her,coached her...in fact they did all they could to help her.Nothing worked.Her final exams approached..so did her apprehensions.

This is what she had to say

all my friends had a grip on themselves.mom & dad were crazy with worry.bhaiya would be helpful one minute nasty the other.Right after the exam ,i knew it well that i would not get the kind o' marks everyone was expecting.Noway.

Now what...i toyed with the idea o' an overdose ...sleeping pills possibly.

Days would blend into nights and nights into days and the idea o'killing myself became stronger....just before the result.n that was the day after...

She thought the night through.She realized she loved her life more than anything else.And even if she did badly in one subject ,she was at par with others.

What happened the next day is why i call her my hero...

She brought a result home which didnt have good marks in maths ,faced her parents &told them that she wanted to read humanities in her graduate study.And she did.With her head held high.In fact...excelled.

conquering rage...

This is a true story .This is not my story.However it was told to me.This is about a boy .Let me call him Ron.Ron was 12.He was headstrong,egoistic,and to top it all an intellectual.He would not have found life easy.Those who think,they never do.To add to his trouble,he was popular too.

Yet he went about thinking his thoughts,speaking his mind & generally getting into trouble as boys sometimes do!One day in school...he was chastised quite seriously for a most stupid prank...absolutely foolish & silly.

The downside was that he thought that it was OK.He began to develop a strong negative image of his own self.He began to do even more stupid things that would land him in more trouble.Now

Ron would now easily be enraged over the smallest of things & say the nastiest things to the closest of his people.

This continued .It grew into a pattern.In Ron's words...

i realized my anger n rage were turning into my own enemies...the upside was that i could still analyze that it was own dark side that was eating into my happiness.My only release was my passion for my game...it sustained me...

Then i came to grade 11,here none of my past was brought out of closet.i could be who i wanted to be...i also found a girl who was willing to be with me..despite my angry outbursts,at times.

in fact ,she could stand up to me yet be on my side.

The breakthrough was when Ron had be able to use his mind & analyse what had gone wrong in his life .He began to find physical release through hours of playing.

He read extensively.He worked hard at understanding his own self.He spoke openly with friends .He decided he neede to make a change in affirmation of all that is positive.

He needed determination & courage to learn anger management.He did....

So i call him...my hero.