Uttarayan (The Festival of Kites)..... Fly With Your Ambitions In The Sky Of Your Dreams

Tomorrow is 14th Jan ...Called Uttarayan
Lemme give some brief introduction of this festival those who don't know.

Uttarayan (known as Makar Sakranti in other parts of India) is the day when the sun starts to travel northwards marking the decline of winter. The days become longer, the skies clearer and the breeze cooler. A feeling of anticipation, joy and jubilation grips all who celebrate the occasion of thanksgiving and merry-making.

Gujarat celebrates 2,000 festivals every year! Among these, the festival of Uttarayan is one of the grandest and stands tall. In Gujarat, Uttarayan is a holiday when every family can be met outdoors. People of all ages fly kites from dawn to dusk. Crowded rooftops, fun-loving rivalry to outdo each other in kite flying skills and delicious traditional Gujarati feast are the hallmarks of the day.

(Ref: http://hinduism.about.com/cs/festivals/a/aa011103a.htm)

I am really missing this as i am in Bangalore and can't go to home to celebrate these wonderful festival of fun and joy.So thought let's share some of my memories of this festival.

Still i remember the days of my childhood, when me and all my langotiya friends used to celebrate this festival with full of passion and enthusiasm. Really those were great days of my life.I could never wake up early in the morning but day before Uttarayan , i could not able to sleep( dreaming about kites and plans for next day), sometimes i used to wake up at 3 am and go out to check whether people has started flying kites on their terrace :). I was staying in government quarters ( we called it colony), so every block (consists of many quarters )has one huge terrace. We all friends used to gather any one of the terrace to fly kites. Sometimes we try to choose that terrace from which we can see good girls :) haha and show them our kite flying skills.

In my colony ( known as Karjan Colony), everybody right from small kid Chuunu to old person Chunnilal dada :) is fond of this festival. Everybody want to reserve their space on the terrace as early as possible in the morning. Some children used to start flying kites in early morning at 3,4 am. ( But there was real enthusiasm and passion in them to celebrate this festival which we can't see in today's youth to do their work ;) )

Kite Flying is not as easy as it looks , particularly when your small kite is in the crowd of thousand giant kites. But it's really nice scene to see the sky with full of kites with different colors and ya it's always fun with different size and varieties of kites with different logos ( like Photo of Actors Actress, Political Parties Symbol of Bhajapa's kamal and Congress Punja , and ya sometimes lovers used to express feelings by displaying their loved one's name or some funny messages which seems strange in today's world of SMS).

Basically u can perform 2 task while flying kites 1) Dheel ( releasing thread) 2) Khench ( pulling threads) to cut other kite's thread. It's like real battle in the sky of kites. And those who can survive their kites they are the winners :) But it's not only about battle but to have real fun.

Some persons in my colony are really famous for their unique skill in this festival like one boy Zahir he was very gud at khech (pulling), when his kite is der then other kites can't stay more . And ya Chauhan uncle was well known for his unique skill of shouting when he cut someone's kite. ( Kaypo Kaypo Kaypo Kaypo.......this shout would continue for 5-10 mins untill the person who's kite has been destroyed by him will realize this fact). Sometime small child scared because of this shout :) lol . People used to wear funny glasses with funny caps to impress girls on their terraces (assuming they look smart, but they looked really funny ).

All the terraces were full of crowd, music systems and food. Ya how can i forget about the delicious items we used to eat like Chiki, Laddus, and lot more.My group used to gather at my friend's terrace which is surrounded my lots of gud blocks(buildings and off course girls ;) ). We used to fly kites in group so evey body help each other and ya when we cut somebody's kite , we used to shout together to make everybody(specially girls on that terrace) realize here we are :). In the evening , people used fire crackers, dance on the terraces to say good bye to this festival. Some children are so addicted to this festival so even after this festival they used to fly kites for 2-3 months untill their mom tell them Chunnu, Munnu now start preparing for exams otherwise ur dad will give you surprise gifts :)

The only sad part about this festival is accidents ( because of manjas(thread) made of harmful materials). Even the flying birds got lots of injury because of this threads on this particular day. And ya one has to take care while flying kites on terraces, lots of incidents happened of falling down from terraces. So people should take care of all these stuffs and celebrate this festival carefully.

Moral of the story :Nowadays every body is busy with their personal and professional life so can't get time to celebrate such a festival. But one can learn a lot from this festival .Every festival in india gives some useful message in your life. In Uttarayan we used to fly kites in the sky and fly them in different directions to survive it from others kites. Similarly the thread of your life is in your hand and you can fly it in wt aver direction you want (bad, good, stable, adventurous). You will get lots of obstacles ( like other kites in the sky),who try to manipulate your ambitions /goal (like your kite who want fly in the sky of your dreams) but you have to be firm with your destiny(Kite's direction) and have to fight with all obstacles.

“You are where you are today because of directions you have chosen of your life yesterday; if today isn’t the best day of your life, choose directions of your life today that will change your tomorrow!”

Happy Utarayan to all of you. Wish you can

Fly With Your Ambitions In The Sky Of Your Dreams

Life On Wheels ( Let's start the journey)

Always wanted write a something about my life then thought why not to start from something new, fresh which can inspire everyone so this is the best time to start in beginning of New Year 2010.

First of all Wish You Very Happy New Year to All Of My Friends

You must be wondering about the name or may be aware of that but this title means a lot for me.It's about my life rolling on wheels through different phases.So today i am going to let you people travel on this wheels you may or may not have traveled through but i am sure you would definitely learn something after this small journey of my life.

Today I am going to tell you some of the phases of my life that i have seen since last 3 years by means of small stories.Every story will teach you something.

Let me begin with the story:

1) It's time to be a student once again
This was really interesting phase of my life when i got admission at one of the best technical school ( IIIT Bangalore) of India. After teaching for 5 years , life gave me an another chance to enjoy college life with some of the brightest minds in the country. It was like dreams comes true for me. The environment of IIITB was really awesome. Ours is one of the best college campus i have ever seen. I made very good friends here from all the states in the country. The best part of IIITB is diversity. We had students from all the states of India from Kerala to Jammu. From all different backgrounds ( MSc. , B.Tech, MCA). It was really great experience to work with all these.Faculties are also great. All are PhD from one of the best Universities of the world.(E.g MIT, Purdue, Penn State, Berkley)

Moral of the story: Change is necessary in Life. Just try to explore the new things in life. I am saying because my life at bharuch was so easy . It became really stagnant. I wanted some change. And if you think that in your life if you are not growing Personally, Professionally, Emotionally then it's time to have some change in your life. That's what i did and seriously speaking it was right decision.

2) It's time to study
I was really scared that how would i manage to study again. I have to learn all the subjects , have to give exams ( ya taking exams is too easy but appearing for exam is a really challenge .There is lots of difference to give the problem and to solve the problem .I have realized that at IIIT ). It's not easy to get M.Tech ( You have to work really hard).Projects, Assignments and lots of other stuffs. But I was enjoying my night outs to complete projects. We used to enjoy a lot in our beautiful campus. Our College works for 24hrs. Sometime we used to give exams in the night at 9 pm. But i love that environment. I have learnt a lot during this period. Birthday celebration at IIITB was real fun ( You can see my birthday celebration photo in my orkut profile) I would never forget that ( Poll dance at Girls Hostel ). But somebody told true that college days are the best period of life.
I did well in academics as well. My final grade are 3.51/4 which seems to be gud at IIIT. Like NCCA (my old college where i was lecturer), i was also involved in Placement team here. I got a chance to teach my juniors as well. I was selected as a Teaching Assistant.So overall it was nice experience.

Moral of the story: Education is not just to about to get the degree. It's about to develop attitude. Education will change your attitude and the way of thinking in life.


3) It's time to fly
We almost completed 3rd semester and it's time to get into industry for internships. But me and my room partner had different plan. We have decided that why shouldn't we try to have some International Exposure , to see the world , enjoy the life. So we have applied for Univ Exchange Program ( IIITB has some collaboration with some universities abroad like Sweden, Germany). We have applied for Sweden as the internship program was in very interesting subject called Interaction Design. Every year 2 student get this chance to go to Sweden. Me and my room partner worked very hard for the assignments and interview to get into this. Unfortunately only i got selected. I was very sad that my friend couldn't make it in interview. So finally me and Eshwari ( my classmate) got selected for this.

So here was the day when i have arrived with my parents at Mumbai International Airport. I was so excited as that was my first journey in flight . I could see joy and proud in my parent's eyes

Moral of the story: Do something in your life for which the persons who love you ( parents, friends) can proud on you. In Life do something great that can bring happiness on others face i think that is the best achievement in your life.

4) It's time to live your dreams
This part of my life is called happiness ( the best days i have lived in my life).Wow it was really a great experience to feel the clouds with you. Ya i was in my first flight of my life (From Mumbai To Istanbul , Istanbul to Copenhagen). Always i was wondering how rest of the world look like. That was like most exciting moment when i first kept my feet at Istanbul airport. After changing 2 flights finally i have reached to Copenhagen and then took train to Malmo ( 3rd largest city of Sweden and my destination). The interesting thing is Sweden and Denmark is connected via one of the largest bridge in the world. 15km long bridge connects Malmo and Copenhagen ( capital of Denmark) and distance is half an hour
That day i felt what is 0 degree temperature.

So finally i was in foreign country Sweden , which is the dream of most of the gujju people (ya it could be great if i would be in US ).
Sweden is one of the best country to live. Really beautiful. The best thing in Europe is all the countries are very near by you can travel easily. I have visited 5 countries in 5 month. And i have visited all the capital city of these countries
Sweden (Stockholm), Germany(Berlin), Norway(Oslo),Czech Republic(Prague), Denmark(Copenhagen)

PS: Visit my orkut album to see all these pics. I have uploaded more than 1000 pics in this trip


I have traveled a lot , met lots of new people from different countries, came across different culture and really enjoyed a lot. I have observed one difference between those people and people in India. They people just used to live and enjoy their life without bothering of others. They do what they love whether it's working in the company or dancing in pub.

Moral of the story: Live your life in present without thinking much about past and future because past is past and future is future who knows what's gonna happen so live in present, believe in your dreams and enjoy each moments of your life without bothering about others. Do what you love.Fulfill your dreams.

4) It's time to say good bye to college life and say hi to real world
This part of my life is called Pursuit Of Happiness.Real life is always different that you expect. This thing i have realized after returning to India in June. It was called bad time so called as RECESSION.
I am always unlucky to face this bad every time in my life when i complete my degree. First time it was in 2002 when i have completed my B.E degree and after 7 years same time or say even worst time in 2009. After having good grades , international exposure, 5 years teaching experience give me good job but in my case nothing comes easily in life. This year placements were worst in the history of IIITB. No big companies had visited the college for placements. I have cleared so many interviews but due to some problem i couldn't get good offers ( Like less salary, location, job profile etc.,) I have cleared about 12
interviews but still my desire to get good job was not fulfilled. 12th July was our convocation day, finally we got our prestigious degree from one of the prestigious person of country Mr. Narayanmurthy ( Father of Infosys ). We all were happy but the we knew the hard fact that still we are jobless.

As we were no more part of the college hostel after convocation, now it's time to search house without job in Bangalore. I was lucky enough to have my good students who still didn't forget their SIR, they managed my stay at their residence. But still i have big challenge to get good job. Everyday i used to go to college for the placements activities,used to contact companies, professors my director. Somehow i have managed to call few companies and got placed some of my classmates but still i didn't have job. But one more problem i have faced that is comparison between life in Sweden and India. Every time i used to travel in local buses in damn crowd, i thought how comfortable life was in Sweden, everything was well managed but here in India it's too scattered. This thinking really frustrated me, i was really irritated with lifestyle in Bangalore. Everyday i was traveling in crowded buses, faced lots of racism issues in Bangalore which i have never faced in Europe, frankly speaking i was really upset with my life. During these period i have seen who are your real friends in your life because in college everybody is friend but when you come out of college and face some trouble only real friend will come and hold your hands. In this time you really need people who can inspire you, give you motivation. I was lucky to have my students, my brother, my parents and off course my friends (I don't want to mention any names because they know very well about whom i am talking about) who became constant source of inspiration for me in this period, they had faith and trust and me that i will make it one day .During this time I have seen one movie called Pursuit Of Happiness (Story about a common man struggle in life, you must watch it), It's based on true story. Still i have remember the dialogue of the movie when Will Smith tell his son

Hey, Don't ever let somebody tell you, you can't do something not even me. You got a dream , u got to protect it.People can't do things by themselves, they want to tell you you can't do it. If you want something , Go get it.

This dialogue inspired me a lot. Struggle is a part of life, you just can't quit. You have to give your best inspite of any number of failures. I kept giving interviews and finally i got in one US based startup firm (www.tyfone.com)

Moral of the story: Life is a mountains of troubles, do not cry , you should only try and try and conquer the sky with your skills and power of will.
Inspiration and motivation is really required in difficult time. You must have someone (may be friend, life partner, relatives) who can inspire you in this time. And Try to Be Self Motivated as well

I hope these small stories of my life can teach you something , you may face similar situations like me in your life but you have to have positive attitude towards life inspite of any good/bad/worst situation in life. Believe in yourself. Read inspirational books and watch inspirational movies, that will definitely help you.

I am planning to write one book on my life like chetan bhagat
I have decided the title of the book as well : LIFE ON WHEELS ( The title is like this because, most of the time i have spent on wheels means in Buses and Trains )

Wish You All A Very Happy New Year (In This Year All Will Be Well, just believe in your dreams)