Feeling lazy?

Frustratingly sluggish mornings, noons and nights

Summers are here but you silently realise that it is not the season that affects your lazy attitude but something else. Something that has been following you like a hovering monster since the millennium Y2k era began. Have you ever thought what keeps you busy while you waste away your day lying on the couch? I asked this question from a few people, including youngsters, adults and older aged people, and got obvious answers like PSP, mobile phones, laptops, television, etc. Even your answers would tally with these. Today, we need everything to happen with a press of a button. There's remote control for everything these days and we have made ourselves accustomed to the habit of using one for all that we do. I explored this to be a major reason behind our sluggish mornings, noons and nights. Every morning seems like a Monday morning. The afternoons have become extremely sleepy as if you were a baby. The nights end with having 10 cups of coffee so as to reassure yourself of activity. The times before technology had crept in were the times of hard-work, body movement and relaxation that can never be felt now. 'Working hard' has now become 'hardly working' and that is only because of this thing I am typing into. Technology may have given us a few things but has taken away a lot more from us. I would want to experiment my life with just one hour of gadgets each day. For the rest 23 hours, I will go back to the 90s; play with clay, read books, paint pots and glasses, meet people (not on Facebook or Skype), write a bit, go cycling, learn cooking, take long walks into the greens, etc. It is a tough job for a person who sits around with smartphones and laptops for 99.9% of the day but I'll try and may be even encourage a few to give it a chance at least. Life may become less frustrating and more meaningful. Let's try being fully alive to each and every moment of what is left of our lives. #notech
#laziness #gadgets #smartphones #technology #sleepy #work #activity #quitgadgets #read #write #paint #cycle #walk #meetpeople #live #alive #notechmovement #notechroutine

Escapism: An unfulfilled dream

I wonder how everything we have around us still sticks to what it is despite the amount of impurity it holds. Nature says it will all end one day because of what is happening today. 90s are gone and gone are the times I used to have outdoors, messing around in the mud and not bothering about the hour for which I was allowed to watch tv. It is just society and its norms that rule the minds now. Just when I was about to give up on my dreams of becoming 'me', a destined knock came to the doors of my being. A friend put 'Into the Wild', an English  movie, in my pen-drive and forced me to watch it, though I had been avoiding the same for quite sometime 'cause I knew it would change me. Directed by Sean Penn, this movie is a biographical account of Christopher Johnson McCandless, popularly known as Alexander Supertramp. For a year that my friend bragged about this fellow, I felt he was a crazy man. I mean who on earth would want to burn all his money, abandon his car and trash out all his identifications just to go on an expedition in Alaska? 'Into the Wild' changed my take on Mr. Supertramp. There are great movies; there are great directors; and then, there are great stories. If I could ever pull in myself to escape and leave the superficial for the society to enjoy, I would die any day after that without regrets. Escapism is a tough thing. People used to curse hippies in the 90s and even today, many social sects don't accept them as sane beings. Escapism is not becoming a hippie. Christopher McCandless was not a hippie. Escapism for me is a gift from me to myself. Escapism is pure.
#IntotheWild #AlexanderSupertramp #Society #Escapism #Pure

TIPA: For the love of performing art

I was trekking towards Dharamkot which is set above Mcleodganj and corresponds to Bhagsu. I had no idea why I was going there and what is Dharamkot all about. But, mid-way towards this village I got a very interesting reason to tread further. It was TIPA- Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts. I entered the main gate to explore TIPA and to my delightful astonishment, I saw some students practicing for a musical play that was to be performed on 27th March, 2015 on the huge stage that the institute possesses. 'Shalang' was the name of the play and it was set with a background of Gautam Buddha's teachings. The traditional drums which were being played by professionals brought me goose bumps with their rhythm and enchanting sounds. Viewing such unexpectedly talented bunch of people was an admirable sight even as they were practicing casually. The people of Tibet are extremely inclined towards saving their heritage as they have lost a lot more than just a home in Tibet. TIPA is one such initiative towards accomplishing this goal. I believe each artist of TIPA will surely enrich India's culture as they gift us bits of theirs.

The Thangka Painter

On the way to village Bhagsu in Mcleodganj, Dharamshala, there are several small shops with beautiful artwork hanging in and out of the same. In one such shop I saw an old man working his skills on the canvas. His name is Tsewang Lhama. With a small pen like brush he was painting something very intricate. It was one of his Thangka paintings. Thangka is a fine art of Tibet. Thangka painting is so detailed and delicate that only a highly skilled artist can bring out the best of it. This Thangka artist is a Tibetan refugee and has been painting since he was 15 years old. His age is around 65 now; he couldn't remember the exact figure. The paintings he has at his shop are enormously beautiful. Every brush stroke is a hard work, not only of the hand but of the mind as well. Working with utmost concentration and dedication, Tsewang Lhama is a fine example of artistic excellence. While I was having a quick chat with him, he said, "I cannot see properly anymore. I have to wear these glasses to work now. This job has taken away my vision partially but I still work everyday." His smile while he said these words was one filled with satisfaction. This satisfaction surpasses the disappointment of getting a bare minimum remuneration for each of his paintings, that too with a considerable time lag. Though he has no country of his own and had to rebuild his family in India while losing most of the elderly members in Tibet, he is still contented and the credit for the same goes to the artwork that he is involved in. This is what keeps him happy. This has kept him going on without expectations of gaining 'freedom in exile'. 'Freedom in art' is his life's achievement. A salute to the Thangka Painter from a huge art-lover.