Wednesday Whistle no 93

 Ending the year at 93!!

 

As the year comes to an end and I recently added another candle to my cake, a good time to look back on the year gone by and to look ahead to the year ahead.

 

How was your year 2023? Good, bad, somewhat ok… ?

 

Depends on how you look at it… Definitely there could be some genuinely happy events and some sad ones, but if you look at what you were at the beginning of the year and what you are now… how you moved from the 23 to the 24, I am sure you will be able to feel happy on what all you may have done.

I became a much better version of myself- personally and professionally.

 

I got a chance to do several new things which I would never have thought to do before!!

 

Wrote many things – whistles- got a limited edition of my writings published as well 😊

 

Levelled up in my fitness level – trying running, cycling and different sports - participated and won

 

There were several new books I read, new article, new podcasts - just some new things to add to my knowledge

 

New places I visited

 

New friends I made

 

New experiences I got

 

New pictures clicked

 

New relationships built – professional and at personal level

 

Several new learnings down the way and wonderful lifetime memories

 

A year gone by is simply not the 365 days gone but a wonderful set of memories created – whatever be the age, situation & circumstance--one definitely moves up from where you were at the beginning of the year to what you are now and will continuing growing and learning for years to come.

 

To more learnings, experiences, memories, new places, books, friends, and new what not--- bringing in the new year with great vigour and grateful and humbled for a wonderful year gone by ….. signing off 2023 with this whistle… taking a break for few days to come back with more exciting ideas … Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a lovely end of this year and start of next year……. till then enjoy this 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚... 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌... 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆... 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔' 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅' 𝒇𝒐𝒓! 😊
#WednesdayWhistles

When experiences matter more than money…..

 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞

To experience something may be more precious than the money or time spent on it.

 

“Mr A caught an early morning flight from his place of work – a last minute booking at thrice the price, to reach on time for his childhood friend’s wedding. With some urgencies at work, he immediately flew back after the ceremony but carried the wonderful memory of attending the wedding- non attending it would have been a life-long regret”

 

“Ms C has to take a long detour from the daily commute to get that favourite sweet liked by her grandma. But she never disliked it. After all the joy on her grandma’s face was incomparable to the time, traffic and money put in, in getting it”

 

“Ms B participated in the sports tournament after years. She had lost practice and was totally out of touch. After few days of practice, she could play well but others were better and she lost the games. However, she made new friends and got many memories with a wonderful and fulfilling experience”

 

“Mr D was visiting out of India for work. He also got a couple of days spare to explore the city. Other than visiting the different tourist spots, he decided to visit and experience the world’s famous museum despite the long que for the ticket and the extra bucks to be spend for it. He spent almost full day – first in the long que and then taking time to explore the museum. He returned a happy and content person from the lovely experience”

 

In all the above cases, experience mattered the most. People went a way ahead to get the feel and concerned less about the money, time or efforts involved. Sometime in life that is what matter the most. Going the extra mile, pushing a little harder, clocking in few extra hours, walking the extra steps - just to experience something amazing and wow!!

 

When was the last time you did something for the experience? I have done all of the above 4 examples 😉 and believe it was an immense feeling of happiness and joy!!!Without bothering about the monetary part or the effort needed – something for yourself or for a loved one…..

 

Enjoy and soak in the experience sometimes rather than the material part….. 😉

 

I leave you with this thought on this lovely 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚... 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌... 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆... 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔' 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅' 𝒇𝒐𝒓! 😊
#WednesdayWhistles

𝑲𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒏𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒊…

𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞

Sports is what binds us and brings us together….

बल्ला थोड़ा सा ठिठक गया,
और बॉल नें भी अब साँस ली है ,
ग्राउंड भी आज अकेला है ,
ना कोई शोर ना कोई ताली है,
दिन रात जहाँ महफिल सजती थी,
वो पिच भी आज ख़ाली है,
शोर शराबे जोश दिला के,
सन्नाटे में चले गए,
ट्रॉफी और ईनाम बंट गए,
सब शान्त है अब,
लेकिन क्रिकेट की पारी ज़ारी है,
फिर लौटेगा खिलाडियों का हुजूम,
फ़िर होगा खेला,
क्यूँकी अब unit c की खिलाडियों की बारी है!!!

I recently participated in the sports event organised at my housing society. For more than one month, every weekend some sporting event was being organised ranging from indoor games like carrom, chess, table tennis to outdoor games like badminton and everyone’s favourite cricket...!!

Every weekend we saw the sporting spirit of people competing against each other as well as becoming buddies… except the age groups in few games, there was no restriction or demarcation. Anyone being a resident of the housing complex was free to participate.

The event took me back to school days when playing outdoors was always a welcome option. Finishing the school homework quickly to be able to race outside and spent the remaining evening playing with friends. The games options then were too many and did not need much resources … only a bunch of excited kids were all that made up the game. There was no fear of getting hurt, no concern of sun, or weather. If one has to play, one has to play come what may!!

From 𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘮𝘳𝘪𝘵, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯, 7 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 to badminton, racing, cricket, and anything which could make the legs run and hearts soar was a game…..!!! Studies were finished quickly, food finished in minutes to go out and play!!!

Similar excitement was visible among us adults in the past few days…. Household chores, office work and any other work was finished and time was being taken out to practice these games. The society ground was abuzz with people spending hours practicing and playing cricket and badminton. The clubhouse and other indoor areas were equally active. Children, men women of all ages, senior members of the society were all excited and joining in the games.

Major attraction and crowd puller was cricket where we had teams for Men and Women cricket.
Many women participated – initially just like that and then later became more involved and started enjoying the game. There were many who had never played before and there were those who had not played for a long time.. but each one put in a lot of efforts and improved the game through 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆. Above all, all the players came to know each other well. The camaraderie was infectious…. They were players – not a person with x name, belonging to y region, speaking z language….. 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒑 willing and excited to play the game. And this was valid for all games – where everyone was one with the spirit of sports!!

The whole event ended with a finale and prize distribution – I was also able to get a couple of prizes 😊… but overall the whole atmosphere changed during those few days when sports was binding everyone and making competitors as great buddies!!!

A lot of learning with a bunch of new buddies and cherishable memories was the end result of this whole one month of sports.

With the year end fast approaching, I got a beautiful memory added for this year with immense learnings ….

Hoping you also will carry such beautiful memories from this year to the new year, I leave you this 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚... 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌... 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆... 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔' 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅' 𝒇𝒐𝒓! 😊

#WednesdayWhistles

Time when the whole nation is glued to the silver screen... When there is a cricket match!!!

 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥e

The ongoing World Cup has reignited the remote wars in many households... 😉

With the biggest celebration of cricket more than halfway through, and the Indian team performing so well, we are all set to watch some interesting matches in the days to come

Cricket runs in the blood of our country... A kid in India learns to bat first than A, B , C,D😉

Any small gully or road, any small ground will be having a match being played during evenings. And you necessarily don't need a bat and a ball to play cricket!! Back of a book with a paper ball is sufficient to create a cricketer!!

There may be many Sachins, Dravids, Dhonis and Virats in the streets of India enjoying their games after a day at school or work

I also enjoy watching and playing cricket.. having grown up and surrounded by cricket loving family members and friends. 

And so I was like others glued to the interesting match of yesterday. It looked like a clear win for Afghanistan with a quick fall of wickets of the mighty Australia. But there was one man who never gave up!! Inspite of a humungous Target set ahead of him and with limited resources, he led his team to a great win and taught us so much

Not giving up is easy to say but difficult to implement. Glenn Maxwell could have easily let the match slip... He had played for long, was injured and was exhausted in the humid Mumbai weather. It looked impossible that the team could win. It was a long way to go... With 7 wickets down and a score of around 100 with 190+ run still needed... But he was determined to lead his team to victory. 

He cautiously played each ball, avoiding silly mistakes and trying to hit fours and sixes to cover the gap and also because he was not able to run due to injury. There is so much to learn from this - there may be so many hurdles ahead of us as an individual, as a team, in work and otherwise... But the never give up attitude would be the one driving us to our goals. There may be a big target ahead of one to achieve and it may seem impossible to do it. But continuous and consistent planned attempts without backing off will help to achieve it. It may seem impossible at first but then nothing is impossible!! And once you achieve such a task , you will never ever stop anywhere anytime!! 

Equally important was the role which his partner batter Cummins played. He knew he will not be scoring much and may not get the credit for the win. But he let Maxwell take the front seat, the spotlight with the simple intention of letting his team win!! He was there to fully support, stand firm and not let the wicket down. True signs of a good team player. Thinking about the team before self. 

All in all an evening full of great learnings and giving me interesting things to think about on this 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚... 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌... 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆... 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔' 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅' 𝒇𝒐𝒓! 😊

 

#WednesdayWhistles

More than a week since India is dancing…. 😊

 India is celebrating festivals this week along with Cricket world cup 😊

While we dance away to Dandiya beats, and enjoy the daily colours, stopping in between to cheer for our team in the World Cup, another Wednesday came whistling by… 😄



Experiencing the magic of Dandiya/ Garba – ‘the socio-religious folk dance originating from Indian state of Gujarat and popularly performed in the festival of Navaratri’ as per internet--- but in essence it is true magic… the magic of brining people together from all walks of life, dancing and enjoying themselves, joining in colourful bright clothes and dancing away the worries of life…coming together irrespective of culture, background, origin – just celebrating the occasion called life!!



This small celebration teaching a simple lesson of inclusivity – where there is no restriction on anyone – even the non- dancers like me can join to shake a leg 😉- bringing anyone and everyone together



The festival ended with celebration of Dussehra – the win of good over evil… we not only burn Ravan outside but also try to throw out the demons within. Depicting that good and truth always wins, this festival also includes other celebrations in several parts of India.

Wednesday Whistle

And of- course why to miss the World Cup wins where the team is showing their valour depicting good team work and high hopes of a grand win (fingers crossed😄)



Hope you also enjoyed the festivities and danced away the worries while also enjoying the festive dishes!!



I leave you to those thoughts on this 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚... 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌... 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆... 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔' 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅' 𝒇𝒐𝒓! 😊



#WednesdayWhistles

Food is the language we speak....

 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞

 

Food is the language we speak....

Traveling for work for few days gave an opportunity to my taste buds to relish the delicacies of the city. I enjoyed the taste of sambhar and mysore pak and the smell of filter coffee rejuvenated the senses

 

Though I loved the food and change from the everyday taste, I realised that I was missing the food of my taste and tea when I came back.... Coming back, I enjoyed the simple daal roti which I would not have so easily loved to eat!

 

Chatting about it with a friend who mentioned that our food represents who we are and always takes us back to our roots made me thinking …. isn’t the type of food we eat also speaks a lot about ourselves – it becomes a language which we don’t speak but eat!!

 

A person from North would long for piping hot samosa against the Vada pao from west or idlies from down south… similarly a person visiting from another country would enjoy the local delicacies but jump with joy on seeing a familiar food from own land. Even the familiar fragrances will bring an immense joy.

 

Food also takes us down the memory lane where we reminisce the different delicacies enjoyed on visiting our native places, the festival specials, season specials and special specials 😊

 

Passing through your favourite food joint and you can’t resist the urge to taste that one special dish—one more time!!

 

After a long day at work, your favourite food will probably be the go-to thing to end the day!

 

I leave you to your thoughts of your favourite food on this 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚...𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌... 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆... 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔' 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅' 𝒇𝒐𝒓! 😊

 

#WednesdayWhistles

Click but also soak in……

 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬

 

On a recent holiday drive through the scenic ghats, I noticed people smiling, trying to do some stunts and acting weird in front of their phones... what was it? Was it something in the air? Or they had overeaten? Or what was the matter with everyone???

 

And then I realised.. ohh they were clicking photos to upload on social media....!!!

 
Not enjoying the scenic beauty, not looking around at the beautiful nature, not soaking it in , not feeling the lovely breeze, not listening to the birds around, not noticing the clouds dancing around amidst the lush green mountains, not feeling the slight chill in the weather, not feeling the rain drops drizzling from the October sky.... but busy clicking and uploading pictures, videos and reels... which will be immediately forgotten once they get the sufficient number of likes and views.... !!

But there they were ... as we stopped and I sat down at one of the viewing point to actually view and enjoy the surroundings, a lady approached me asking her to click her picture. I sat around for some time, taking in the scenic beauty and also clicked some pictures but only once I had felt the sound, breeze, the air, and the energy around. I also posted these pictures to let others also enjoy it.

 

In this fast- moving world, we are so engrossed in our ‘social’ lives that we forget to actually live it!! We go to a movie but click a picture inside the theatre first rather than taking in the surroundings and enjoying the break. We go to a restaurant and click the photos to post on social media as the food comes in – Food also gets bored meanwhile! We go to a wedding but first click rather than wishing and talking to the newly-weds!!

 

It is not wrong to click or create memories – in fact it is easier and quicker now. But also observe and take in what you are clicking – give a moment to your mind to look at things around, learn from them, take in the energy, create a picture in mind to remember it in tough times. And then click, upload, share and so on….

 

I leave you to this thought on this first October 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚... 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌... 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆... 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔' 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅' 𝒇𝒐𝒓! 😊

 

#WednesdayWhistles