What’s in a signature????

I have always been a big fan of quotable quotes…and have liked collecting them since childhood… It may sound like I am bragging; but yeah, many people have told me that they look forward to reading the signature in my mails, that I change everyday! 🙂 Now for all those people who have encouraged me to use nice and new signatures everyday, here I present a collection that I have used in my mails….

  • Don’t attempt to run from the past, it is always behind you.!”
  • “A cigarette is a pinch of tobacco, wrapped in paper, With fire at one end and a  fool at the other!!.”:-))
  • “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
  • “A meeting is an event at which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost……”:-)))
  • “The world is full of people whose notion of a satisfactory future is, in fact, a return to an idealized past.”
  • “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot!” 🙂
  • “Those who drink to drown their sorrows should be taught that sorrows know how to swim.”
  • “A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn’t feel like it.”
  • “Democracy is three wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper!!” :-))
  • “Vacation is what you take when you can’t take what you’ve been taking any longer.” :-)))
  • “Examine what is said, not who speaks!”
  • “Optimists and Pessimists equally contribute to our society….Optimists make the airplanes, pessimists make the parachutes!”
  • “Preach the Gospel at all times … if necessary, use words!” 🙂
  • Karl Marx’s Mother: “If Karl, instead of writing a lot about capital, had made a lot of it … it would have been much better.” :-)))
  • “How many of you believe in telekinesis? Raise MY hand!” :-))))))
  • “In communism, man oppresses man. In capitalism, it’s the other way around. ” :-)))
  • “Nothing shows a man’s character more than what he laughs at.”
  • “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
  • “What the caterpillar calls the end, the butterfly calls the beginning.”
  • “If the human brain was simple enough for us to understand, we’d be so simple that we wouldn’t  be able to understand!!” :-)))
  • “If we’d confess our sins to one another, we’d all laugh at the lack of originality.” 🙂
  • “Learn from the mistakes of others…You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself!!”:-)))
  • “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
  • “Don’t worry about people stealing an idea. If it’s original, you will have to ram it down their throats!!!” :-))
  • People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
  • “If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy the civilization!!”:-))
  • “Scientists announced today that they have discovered a cure for apathy. However, they claim no one has shown the slightest interest in it.!!!”:-)))
  • “The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it!!”
  • “Always fall in with what you’re asked to accept. Fall in with it and turn it your way!”
  • “Did Noah include termites on the ark?”:-)))
  • “What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”
  • “We all live under the same sky, but we don’t all have the same horizon.”
  • “Software and Temples are much the same – first we build them, then we pray!!”
  • “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”
  • “Deciding not to choose is still making a choice!” :-))
  • “The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn.”
  • “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go!!” :-)))
  • “In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed!!”
  • “Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell.” :-))
  • “Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely!”
  • “God is a comic, playing to an audience that’s afraid to laugh!”
  • “One good thing about being wrong is the joy it brings to others!!” :-))
  • “Don’t take life so seriously; u anyways won’t get out of it alive!!”
  • “I used to sell furniture for a living. The trouble was, it was my own!!!” :-)))))))))
  • “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
  • “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there!!!” :))
  • “Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back into the same box.”
  • “Can atheists get insurance for acts of God???.” :-)))
  • “The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.” :-)))
  • “There are only 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary, and those who don’t.” :-)))
  • “No individual raindrop ever considers itself responsible for the flood.”
  • “After all is said and done, more is said than is done!” :-))
  • “I have learned that the Lord didn’t do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?” :-))
  • “That which you cannot give away, you don’t possess; it possesses you.”
  • “Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.”
  • “Wise people talk because they have something to say…. Fools talk because they have to say something!!” 🙂
  • “I lost 40 Pounds!!! Unfortunately, I was in England at that time!!!!”  🙂
  • Hope is the ability to hear the music of future….Faith is the courage to dance to it today!!
  • “If you can’t see the bright side of life, polish the dull side.”
  • “Confidence doesn’t come from having all the answers, It comes from being open to all the questions!!”
  • “There are two parts in my brain: left & right; right is having nothing left in it, and left is having nothing right in it!!!” :-))))))
  • “When u r falling off a cliff, u might as well try to fly coz u have nothing to lose!!”
  • “As I said before, I DONT REPEAT!!” :-))))))
  • “Doing nothing is very hard to do…you never know when you’re finished……. ! ” :-)))
  • “God give me patience and Give it to me NOW!!!! ” :-)))
  • “Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking.”
  • “Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.”
  • “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” 🙂
  • “If you want a symbolic gesture, don’t burn the flag; wash it!”
  • “When I tell the truth, it is not for the sake of convincing those who do not know it, but for the sake of defending those who do.” -William Blake
  • “One thing you can’t recycle is wasted time.”
  • “The world is a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.”
  • “You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions.”
  • “When everything’s coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane!”
  • “The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat !”
  • “One day, your life will flash in front of your eyes… Make it worth watching.”
  • “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”
  • ” Just when I got all the answers of life, they changed the question!!” :-))
  • ” The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to change, the Realist adjusts the sails!”
  • “Is it true that cannibals don’t eat clowns because they taste funny?”  LOL!!! :-))
  • “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm”
  • “Your problem is never really your problem; your reaction to your problem is your problem.”
  • “Never run from your fears. Because when they catch up to you you’re too tired to fight.”
  • “I’m tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That’s deep enough. What do you want, an adorable kidney????” :-)))))))
  • “It’s so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don’t say it!!” :-)))
  • “A politician is the one who shakes your hand before elections and your confidence after.” :-))))
  • “2B or not 2B? I think it’s a grade of pencil.” :-))))
  • “After hearing two eyewitness accounts of the same accident, you begin to wonder about history.” :-))
  • “A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.” :-)))
  • “There’s a book that tells you where you should go on your vacation. It’s called your cheque book!!!!!” :-))))
  • “Life’s like a foreign language…everyone mispronounces it!!!” :-))
  • “Be yourself. Who else is better qualified?” :-))
  • “There are 3 sides to any argument….my side, your side, and the right side!!!” 🙂
  • “”Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” ”  🙂
  • “Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important!” :-))
  • “Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you’re alive, it isn’t.” :-))
  • ” Living on Earth may be expensive…but it sure includes an annual free trip around the Sun….!!!!” :-))
  • ” Most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity.!!!” :-))
  • “If you are not living on the edge, you’re probably occupying too much space!!!”
  • “The problem with being punctual is that nobody’s there to appreciate it !!!” 🙂
  • “Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person, is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian” 🙂
  • “Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on” 🙂
  • “Remember there is a Space between Stimulus and Response, and our Growth lies on how we utilize that Space”
  • ” It’s not true that nice guys finish last. Nice guys are winners before the game even starts. !” :-))
  • “The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.” :-))
  • “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”
  • “Don’t cry because the Sun is setting at the end of the day…….. For the tears will not let you enjoy the beauty of the stars!!!!”
  • “Never be afraid to do something new……. Remember, amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic!!!!”
  • “When one door closes, another one opens. But often we look so long at the closed door that we fail to see the one that has opened for us.”
  • ” A hen is only an egg’s way of making other eggs…. “
  • “A dead end is just a good place to turn around!!!!”
  • “If you are lucky enough to reach the top, its your responsibility to send the elevator back down!!”

Yeh Duniya ek Circus hai!!!!

“Circus hai bhai Circus hai!!! Ye duniya ek Circus hai!!”, And so went the title track of a popular Hindi TV serial, aired a few years ago. An immensely popular serial, it did its bit in explaining to the common man what the triumphs and traumas of the world of Circus were…It was the “zamaana” of DoorDarshan, and its every episode was watched by youngsters and adults alike with great interest.

At the time the serial was aired, I was in the age group of watching the actual circus rather than the TV serial. Every time the circus caravan arrived in town, my parents took my sister and me to watch the acrobats, the lions and tigers, the clowns… Going to a circus was definitely considered a huge huge treat!!

Reminiscing about your childhood always gives you such a fondly lingering nostalgia na!! This new year, we decided to relive this nostalgia!! On the 1st of January, a couple of friends and I decided to go to the Circus that had just come to town. I don’t need to tell you how most of my friends reacted, do I! 🙂 Most of them started laughing at us the moment we uttered the sentence, “Hey!! How ’bout going to the circus??” Others said “eee!! Circus!! How boring!!”. Many also carried out the task of reminding us that we were no longer kids!! <Sigh!!> (Why do people have to keep telling you that!!! 😦  )

But regardless of all this, our trio went ahead to watch the Rambo circus, to reopen that folded chit of paper, that had remained ignored in some pocket of my mind, since several years!!

Reading ‘long-forgotten-about’ chits of childhood can be so much fun, I tell you!! Its somewhat like rediscovering hidden treasures of childhood, the marbles, the stones, the coins, the pencil shavings, wow!! The smallest of joys that they impart contribute to a very happy childhood!!

This is what I always believed, and my belief was reinstated on the 1st day of this year!!! At the Rambo circus!!!

All excited and geared up, we reached the venue, and selected comfortable seats. After some wait, the circus finally started with one of the most interesting items…the Trapeze!!

The sight of several acrobats synchronously swinging from one side of the dome to another attracted quite a few rounds of applause!! Not to forget the histrionics of the star of the circus…the Joker!!!

Then the other regular acts followed. Gymnasts tried their hands at different drills and balancing acts. Clowns came in between items and tickled the funny bone of the audience! Animals in the circus were limited to Horses, Elephants, dogs and parakeets; since there is a ban on wild animals being used as acts in circuses. Nevertheless, the antics by dogs and parrots, the game of cricket played by the elephants, the horses and their riders all gathered the appreciation of the public..

All-in-all, it was a very nice experience! Although there were moments in which the items couldn’t hold our interest persistently,thanx to our so-called maturity that comes with age; we thoroughly enjoyed the time of 2-2 n 1/2 hours.

But yeah, the constant thinker (unnecesarily, as some of my friends feel..hehe…) that I am, during, and after the circus, I kept thinking about the different things that came to my mind while watching the Circus.

The professionals working in the circus , for one! I don’t know if many of you are aware, but it’s a fact that most of the circus artistes are not just underpaid, but also don’t benefit from the regular employment facilities like pension, insurance, etc. They are quite susceptible to fatal injuries while practising/performing their dare-devil feats, but yet are provided with no insurance or hospitalization cover. The animals in the circus too are supposedly ill-treated and not fed well.

Well doesn’t this present a real ironic situation in life?? The people, the animals who entertain us a lot, help in revitalizing our health (laughter is the best medicine , remember??) are themselves deprived of basic amenities of life! Their dresses while performing may be all glittering, but their future is definitely not gold..

Mostly, people who work in these circuses come from a very poor background; like those where it is hard to feed children, and are hence sent off to work at circuses. Most of the acrobats in these circuses are so flexible , so athletic, that if given proper training, can actually participate in international sports events as gymnasts. But alas they don’t have the money, the opportunity, awareness or the motivation..(As a child I always wondered why Indians never qualify for events like Gymnastics…now I realize that the medal deserving lot is sweating it out at the circus, instead of holding the Indian tricolor high at the Olympics!!)

Of course, this in no way means that these artistes don’t contribute to our country… As I’ve already said, entertaining the public is no small achievement… however, they actually are not contributing to themselves. A lot of talent that could have been used to get medals and decorations for our country is being spent in earning claps and whistles from the circus-goers. Of course, I can’t straight away claim that it’s bad….. ’cause looking at it in another perspective, they are bringing joy to people , who of course make up the country!

Hey, we looked at the circus in so many different ways right now… But the Kaleidoscope can still be tilted even more…..but for the sake of all those who reached this far, won’t torture you people even more…More about circus, life at the circus, life in the circus, and the circus of life, in some other post.. 🙂

The idol stood still……….

This is a story I once read in a Marathi newspaper that truly deeply touched my heart. It was translated from Kannada, I think. This is an abstract English translation of the story from memory, in order to reach a wider audience.

There was this small village surrounded by a forest. In the centre of the village was a sacred temple, that everyone in the village regarded with great pride and faith. The temple housed a beautiful and serenely still idol of Lord Krishna. The idol was reputed to be the oldest and the most beautiful ones among all the idols in neighbouring area. People said that the calm expression on the face of the idol, the sereneness with which it stood, for years and years and years, was absolutely matchless. The idol had survived spells of famines, floods, droughts, and was as still as ever. This fact had strengthened the devotees’ faith in the idol all the more.

One dark, stormy night, the rain poured like cats and dogs in this remote village surrounded by forests. It was thundering; lightening cut across the sky like shining blades of swords. There was not a living thing in sight, with everyone alive safe under shelter. Even the normally noisy crickets and grasshoppers did not dare to venture outside. All the doors and windows of the houses in the village stay shut.

And at such a time, an outcaste from the village, who had gone into the woods to arrange for his daily bread and butter, was trying to return back home. Fully soaked, scared and shivering, he reached the border of the village. Desperate for shelter, his glance fell upon the temple that stood so elegantly amidst the sheer chaos created by mother nature. Relieved at the sight, he rushed towards the temple. In his mixed feelings of desperation, fright, elation, and hope, he forgot one so-called important fact. He was an outcaste, and was not allowed to enter any place frequented by the again-so-called elite upper classes of the society.

As he tried to climb the 1st step of the temple, where there was this serenely still idol, the priest spotted him. “Stop there, you wretch!!”, he shrieked, and charged towards him. “Don’t you know you outcastes are NOT supposed to enter a sacred place like this!! How dare you ruin the sanctity of this place!!!”, he roared. The outcaste, then trembling with fear, looked at the sacred idol. It stood still. He fell to the feet of the priest, and begged for mercy. The priest of course did not oblige. The idol stood still.

As the fury of the winds grew in magnitude, the outcaste again requested the priest for refuge inside the temple. The priest, furious due to the blasphemous behaviour of the outcaste, again told him to get lost. “If you try to take even 1 step forward, I swear I’ll teach u a lesson!!, he screamed,” The God will teach u a lesson!” The sacred idol in the altar stood still. Despite the threats of the priests, the outcaste put his foot on the step of the temple – ’cause his desperation outweighed his fear. The priest was outraged!! “How dare an outcaste disobey me??” He ran inside the temple, got hold of an axe, and charged down at the outcaste. “You  wretch….Wait till God teaches u a lesson!!” He lifted his hand and at once brought down the axe…

The outcaste died, bleeding profusely due to the fatal blow he received! The idol still stood still…