સુખ માત્ર મંઝિલે જ નથી હોતું, માર્ગમાં પણ હોય છે...

જિંદગીને એટલી બધી પણ ભરી ન દો કે તેમાં સુખ માટે જગ્યા જ ન રહે. તમને ગમે તેવું કંઈક કરવા જિંદગીને થોડીક ખાલી પણ રાખો. સુખ માત્ર મંઝિલે જ નથી હોતું, માર્ગમાં પણ હોય છે. જિંદગી સાથેના સંવાદોમાં છેલ્લે કહ્યું કે, એ જિંદગી, તું ક્યાં છે? મારે તને જોવી છે! જિંદગીએ કહ્યું, આંખોના ડોળા ફાડીને મને શોધવાનો પ્રયત્ન કર, જરાક આંખ મીંચીને મને શોધ, હું તારી અંદર જ છું.

તું મારાથી ખુશ છે? જિંદગીએ આજે એક અણિયાળો સવાલ પૂછી નાખ્યો. આમ તો તે અનેક વખત આવા સવાલો પૂછતી રહે છે પણ હું તેને જવાબ આપતો નથી. આજે મેં જિંદગી સાથે સંવાદ સાઘ્યો.

ના રે યાર! હું તારાથી પૂરેપૂરો ખુશ નથી. જો ને તું મારું ધાર્યું કંઈ થવા જ દેતી નથી. ખુશ થવાનું માંડ કંઈક કારણ મળે ત્યાં તું નવો કોઈ પ્રોબ્લેમ ઉભો કરી દે છે. આજે ઓફિસે જતો હતો ત્યાં જ ખબર મળ્યા કે, એક રિલેટિવને એક્સિડન્ટ થયો છે. બધું કામ પડતું મૂકીને ત્યાં દોડવું પડ્યું. ધારેલું બધું જ કામ રખડી પડ્યું.

જિંદગી મારી સામે હસી. તેણે બીજો સવાલ કર્યો કે, તારા રિલેટિવને બદલે તને અકસ્માત નડ્યો હોત તો? પગમાં પ્લાસ્ટર આવી જાય અને ડૉક્ટર તને કહી દે કે, હવે ત્રણ વીક બેડ રેસ્ટ કરવાનો છે. તો તારે પડ્યા રહેવું ન પડે?

જિંદગીને જવાબ આપ્યો, ના છૂટકે પડ્યા જ રહેવું પડે તો શું થાય? તું ક્યારેક આખી પૃથ્વીને જેલ જેવી બનાવી દઈ માણસને એક રૂમમાં પૂરી દે છે!

પણ તું બધું નાછૂટકે જ શા માટે કરે છે? આ તો કરવું જ પડશે, આના વગર તો ચાલશે જ નહીં, મારા વગર આ કામ બીજું કોણ કરશે? તારામાં બ્રેક લાગી જાય તો પણ ઘડિયાળનો કાંટો તો રોકાવાનો જ નથી! સમય એ એક એવું વાહન છે જેમાં બ્રેક જ નથી! હા, તેની રીધમ એક જ રહે છે. પણ તું તો એને તેની ગતિ કરતાં પણ વધુ દોડાવવા માંગે છે.

જિંદગી! તને હું પહોંચી શકવાનો નથી. તારી પાસે દરેક સવાલના જવાબ છે! જિંદગીને કહ્યું.
અને તારી પાસે માત્ર સવાલો છે, ફકત સમસ્યાઓ છે, અઢળક ફરિયાદો છે, ઢગલાબંધ અણગમા છે, ક્યારેય ન ખૂટે એવી નારાજગી છે, ખળભળી જવાય એવો ઉશ્કેરાટ છે. મેં તો તને આરામ માટે આખી રાત આપી છે પણ તને ક્યાં ઊંઘ આવે છે?

મેં કહ્યું ને કે, તારી પાસે બધા સવાલના જવાબ છે! જિંદગીએ કહ્યું કે, એટલે જ કહું છું દોસ્ત, મારામાંથી થોડાક જવાબ શોધી લે. તું તો પ્રશ્નોમાં જ એટલો ગૂંચવાઈ ગયો છે કે, તારી પાસે જવાબ વિચારવાની ફુરસદ જ નથી! હું તારા માટે છું પણ તને તો મારી સામે જોવાની પરવા જ નથી.

તમારી જિંદગી તમને ક્યારેય આવા સવાલો કરે છે? કરતી જ હશે, કારણકે જિંદગીનો સ્વભાવ જ સવાલો કરતા રહેવાનો છે. સવાલ એ છે કે, આપણે એના પ્રશ્નોના જવાબો મેળવવાનો પ્રયત્ન કરીએ છીએ? તને હાથ લંબાવો તો જિંદગી તમને જવાબ આપી દેશે.

માણસ જિંદગી સાથે આખી જિંદગી યુદ્ધ લડતો રહે છે. શિયાળામાં પોતાની જાતને હીટરમાં ઘૂસાડી દે છે અને પછી ઉનાળામાં કાશ્મીર ફરવા જાય છે. ચોમાસામાં કીચડની બૂમો પાડતો રહે છે અને બાથરૂમમાં શાવર નીચે ઊભો રહી વરસાદના સપનાં જુએ છે.

બગીચામાં જવાનું ટાળે છે અને સ્પ્રે છાંટેલા બુકેમાં બગીચો શોધવા ફાંફાં મારે છે. ઝાકળનું બિંદુ કેટલું નિર્મળ હોય છે એ તેને ટીવીના એલસીડી સ્ક્રીન ઉપર જોઈને જ સમજાય છે. કૂંપળનો અર્થ ખીલેલાં ફૂલો પાસેથી નથી મળતો. ખાંડમાં શેરડીની મીઠાશ શોધવા મથતો રહે છે અને જિંદગી ક્યારે શુગર ફ્રી થઈ જાય છે તેની સમજ નથી પડતી.

જિંદગી સાથે યુદ્ધ લડતાં લડતાં જ જિંદગી પૂરી થઈ જાય છે અને માણસ હારી જાય છે. સુખનો સરવાળો મોટો કરવાની લ્હાયમાં જિંદગીની બાદબાકી ક્યારે થઈ ગઈ એ માણસને ક્યારેય સમજાતું નથી. સુખ તો એક અવો પદાર્થ છે જેનું ઉત્પાદન રોજેરોજ કરવાનું છે અને રોજ તેન વાપરવાનું અને માણવાનું હોય છે. માણસ સુખને ભેગું કરવા મથતો રહે છે, થોડુંક ભેગું થઈ જાય પછી આરામથી સુખને માણીશ એવું વિચારતો રહે છે પણ સુખ માણવાનો સમય જ મળતો નથી.

સુખ સાથે સંતાકૂકડી ન રમો. યાદ કરો તમે આજે તમને સુખ ફીલ થાય એવું શું કર્યું? થોડુંકેય સંગીત વગાડ્યું? એકેય ચિત્ર જોયું? કોઈ પક્ષીનો કલરવ ઝીલવા કાન માંડયા? ઘરના લોકોને સારું લાગે એવી કોઈ વાત કરી? દિલને હાશ થાય એટલું હસ્યા છો? કોઈ ગીત ગણગણ્યા છો? કે એટલો સમય પણ તમને નથી મળ્યો?

જિંદગીને એટલી બધી પણ ભરી ન દો કે તેમાં સુખ માટે જગ્યા જ ન રહે. તમને ગમે તેવું કંઈક કરવા જિંદગીને થોડીક ખાલી પણ રાખો. સુખ માત્ર મંઝિલે જ નથી હોતું, માર્ગમાં પણ હોય છે.

જિંદગી સાથેના સંવાદોમાં છેલ્લે કહ્યું કે, એ જિંદગી, તું ક્યાં છે? મારે તને જોવી છે!

જિંદગીએ કહ્યું, આંખોના ડોળા ફાડીને મને શોધવાનો પ્રયત્ન ન કર, જરાક આંખ મીંચીને મને શોધ, હું તારી અંદર જ છું. તમે પણ તમારી જિંદગીને શોધજો. મળી આવશે...

છેલ્લો સીન:

આપણે જો સુખી થવું હોય તો એ બહુ સહેલું છે, પણ આપણે તો બીજાં કરતા વધુ સુખી થવું હોય છે, અને તે બહુ મુશ્કેલ છે, ............કારણ કે આપણે લોકોને એ હોય છે તેના કરતા વધુ સુખી માનતા હોઈએ છીએ. -

First Day at K-Bridge

Hi All,

Not many of you know that yesterday (11th Aug) was the day when I ushered myself in the world of corporate IT four years back. This never happened in last 3 years but yesterday I was feeling rather nostalgic probably because first 3 words of "nostalgic" rhyme with "nose" and I have runny nose since last 3-4 days!!

There was an interesting thing which happened before I officially joined K-Bridge. I didn't know the name of the person who interviewed me, he just mumbled his name and I didn't bother asking him (Much later, it was revealed that the guy was Vikas. I also found that he got my surname wrong, so I felt the score was settled!!)

Another thing is that when I got call offering me a job, I didn't get the name that time as well and didn't bother to ask. The only thing that I heard correctly was the remuneration figure!! I also doubted Rediffmail's send "Read Mail Receipt" feature and sent loads of fake mails to my other mail address to verify that it was working.


On the 11th Aug 2006, the start of the day was not very auspicious either. Just after I left my residence, my Scooty lurched to the right (I still remember the direction!!) and caused my entire right shoe and some part of the trouser to submerge in the trademark Vadodara pothole. So, it was muddy, wet and frustrating start of what would be a very important day of my life.

Nothing untoward happened till I reached the gates of K-Bridge. Then I was welcomed by Yogit who seemed like a harbinger of good luck to me :). Due to overnight rain, the bridge floor was slippery. I was extra careful because of I didn't want to wet/injure myself though I was still wet behind the ears (pun intended). But Bhups was in the mood to defy the laws of gravity and break some Olympic records for somersaulting events, so he (not deliberately) did a full somersault right before my eyes and fell flat on his back. I didn't register any emotion on my face but was feeling obviously sorry for him.

Then I was guided to Conf Room where 2-3 people were already seated. I think they were Brinda, Khyati and another Hardik. I also joined them and studied their faces. After some time, Shaunak entered and we all collectively thought that he must be a tech lead or PM or something in that role. I half stood up to greet him but he settled himself rather quickly in a chair nullifying me an opportunity to make friends with a PM so early in my career.

After that it was the usual induction process, signing of letters and everything that follows for a new employee. I was going through lots of emotions though. Never really comprehending a single feeling. I was happy and jittery,hopeful and nervous at the same time. I didn't know anything about the world of web technology. And I'm not being modest here. I really know NOTHING about web technologies except how to use them. The only thing that was keeping me up on my feet was my belief that I can overcome the odds and learn and adapt the new technology.

Once the induction completed, we had a round with Sachin (I guess) about introduction to KBIS, KCMS and KIMS. I had already read about them before joining so that knowledge floated at the top disallowing any new knowledge inside.

Then we were assigned our workstations and I felt devastated to have the PMs (SV and DP) breathing down my neck :). Such is the will of God, I conciled my self.

During the lunchtime also, I was in my shell just like out-of-form Sachin or Rahul Dravid lingering in the 90s. I knew only Jigar and shared his tiffin only. Later in the day, Nitin called all the new joinees and explained the rules and policies of K-Bridge which we all listened to with rather open-mouth then open-mind. The reason I guess none of us had ever experienced such thing earlier.

Out of all K-Bridge policies, we remembered only one thing working hours. It was 10 to 6. As soon as the clock struck 6, volley of messages started on the Yahoo messenger among 5 of us. Nobody in the office budged an inch to acknowledge that the play time was over.

We thought to comply with the other colleagues waited till 6:30. No movement. 7:00. No eye-lids flickered. Then we became restive and decided to ask Nitin whether we can leave for the day. All of us went together towards Nitin's office. By the time we reached there, all the bravado vanished and feet turned to stone. Who will bell the Lion ? (Cat is obviously out of place here :) ). After a long discussion, I ventured out to ask Nitin, whether we can leave. He caught the verb "leave" and let us go.

I was never happier in my life. We all returned to our desks with newly infused lives and packed all the things with encouraging shouts from other seated-and-bound-to-work-late colleagues. Directing good byes to only SV and DP, I dashed for home.


That was the memory of whatever I remember on first day at my first job!!

P.S: I'm using Arial fonts here to be inline with K-Bridge policy.

The Power of Good Thoughts

“Say hello to strangers and enjoy the people you know” – Try to implement this thought for a single day and you will see the change in your life. You will be much happier than you are today…

I still remember when I was in college, Payal (one of my best buddy) used to write bunch of good thoughts in her book and no wonder she followed them (or might be still following) whenever needed.

I was also inspired by her and started copying her book in my handwriting (silly me as I could have photo copied that book :))

During old college days, I never implemented any of my written thought in my life and I regret about it today as I could have started living quality life since then, but no worries – Its never too late..  I have been implementing the power of good thoughts in my daily routine since couple of years!! And you know what I AM FEELING SO GOOD!!!

I am living my life at the fullest in any situation just because of the positive attitude of my nature I have adopted from the good thoughts and this post is about encouraging all readers to replicate it in their life.

When I first came to US, we had nothing in our hands except for the 2 bags with some cloths and daily necessity (I know this is the situation of every single person who steps into the US without any support). But what we had extra with us was a power of Good Thoughts. The first thing Chirag told me when I entered into our rented apt was “ITS NOT HOW MUCH WE HAVE, BUT HOW MUCH WE ENJOY- THAT MAKES HAPPINESS” and I am still keeping this thing in my mind even after 2 years of my stay in this country.

We have hurdles at every step in our life but how we adjust ourselves to pass through those hurdles- that really matters. Be thankful for the difficult times because during those times you can grow!!! Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to???

Let me give you a good example of the power of good feeling thoughts…

Few months back I went for one interview and after the 2 hours conversation, the Project Manager asked me “Apart from your technical skills, you have a great energy and a beautiful smile on your face!! I don’t get it? How do you do it? ” and I replied “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Ruja, you have two choices today: You can choose to be in a good mood and make others smile or you can choose to be in a bad mood and complaint about your condition.”

I choose to be in a good mood everyday.  Here is a very good thought about the life and choices we have in the life: "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life.”

I know we can’t control some situations but we can control ourselves by adopting positive attitude. No matter what your goal is, the mind plays an important role in achieving every kind of success, (Try to stay away from your Heart decision, it is very deceptive :))

Finally, here are some affirmations that are good to say several times a day!

Be happy.

I am loved.

I am a free bird.

I love. I am loving.

I love myself and all creation.

Everyday in every way I am better, better, and better.

Keep Smiling. Always.

Making Decisions, Hard but Right, Scary but Right

Hi Everyone,

Today I woke up early and completed all my routine work so fast… Was looking at the movies website and thinking to watch some good movie…  I m not a big fan of SRK but somehow I clicked on SRK movie page… suddenly my eyeball got stuck on “Kabhi Alvida na kehna” … Oh my gosh, such a boring movie and such a indigestible concept…  How people go for an extra marital relation when they are happy enough with the current partner???


I thought for a while and then decided to portrait my views in an article. I know it’s a very touchy topic and everyone is having different opinions for this. I have seen many couples in my life who are very happy with their life but want some extra fun and that extra for them is having an affair with the good old buddy, colleague or the person who met last nite in a club.

When we think practically, it seems to be a rubbish to get involved in such a relation when u r already committed to the other person but at some point of time “It’s a one’s opinion, one’s decision, or I can say one’s liking”!!!

According to one of my friend (He would not appreciate if I give his identity ;)): ” It's interesting and can be fun and it's typical thing to happen when the two in marriage live alone and spend most of the time just with each other. Eventually they start getting bored of each other... and...  Extramarital relations start taking place!

Sometimes the above few lines happen to be a very true!!!

For some ppl “Its all about Cheating”, For sm ppl “Its all about having fun”, For some ppl “ Its all about exploring some new facet of the relation” Here exploring something  new doesn’t mean to get  involved in some physical relation but sometimes it also means to involve emotionally with the other person.

Having an affair is always a bad decision for me but can u imaging some ppl who are stretching their relation just bcoz thy are married.. no matter how happy are they but they don’t wanna end up that relation.. for thm I guess, having some new partner in their life who gives more happiness, more care, more love is a wise decision. I am not telling that this kind of affairs are good enough to continue with but they are good for certain kind of relations…  finally everyone needs to be get loved and cuddled!!!

At my point of view: “Once you cheat, you destroy the unspoken trust that is the glue upon which all relationships are founded. I knew that without that bond, any relationship is bound to fizzle. “

I don’t feel proud of being involved with someone who belongs to someone else but at the same time when you are broken soul and you hold onto the person who has the patience to listen to your sad story, make sense of your irrational thoughts and teach you what it means to love isnt selfish and it cannot be called bad but its good decision.

So finally, to conclude this topic, I would say Its all about taking a wise decision.. If you are happy with your current partner then think twice before getting involved with the other person… But If you sense trouble in your relation, you should seek counseling. Always give second chance.. An affair wont resolve anything!!!

If you are in extramarital affair, you can never justify urself.. no matter what brings you in that and what encouraged you to do so.. The relation and ppl both would never be appreciated…

Before posting this article, I have asked my hubby for his opinion and he concluded very wisely “You can go for it if you feel our marriage doesn’t sound successful ;)