Rise above fear- Indiblogger Happy Hours

Topic-

Rise above fear!

Fear is a fact and one has to take risks in life to succeed. So tell us about the risks you have taken to overcome your fear and claim victory! 

Here is a link to Mountain Dew's Official Facebook page- https://www.facebook.com/mountaindewindia

Fear is one of the eternal truths of life and I completely agree with the statement that a person who has never been afraid in his life, has perhaps never done anything worthwhile. Fear is a sign. It is a signal that you're about to do something big. It is a signal to set your body and mind in preparation mode. 'Prepare to conquer' is the only motto and looking back is not an option. That is how it should feel. That is how one should use fear. Yes, use your fear to win against any obstacle for it is a formidable force.

Some great man once said that courage is not the absence of fear but the will to go on even when you're afraid. I had such moments in my life when a decision had to be made and fear gripped me like a vice.  I'd like to recount one such moment that I faced in my Murudeshwar trip. For those who don't know, Murudeshwar is a beautiful temple town in coastal Karnataka where a giant statue of Lord Shiva overlooks the ocean and along with the spiritual aura, the serene calmness of the water soothes the soul. If you haven't seen the place already, get planning and get packing.

I had gone with my college friends and everybody was keen on doing the water sports except me. The problem was, I didn't know swimming. And the 'Banana Boat Ride' seemed like a suicide mission. A bunch of people were dragged to the middle of the ocean on a log-like boat pulled by a speedboat and then the log would be rolled over so that everyone would just fall into the water. I was pretty sure if I was thrown in there, I would drown. I didn't trust the life jacket, I was pretty sure I'd do something wrong like flailing my limbs the wrong way or breathing inside water that'd cause some mishap.

It was fear!

A few of my friends, who didn't know how to swim backed out. So, I stood there with my friends, all of whom knew swimming with the only exception being me. I had the option of giving in to the fear and walking away. My philosophy in such cases has always been and will always be to give it a shot because if I do it, I'd get a story to tell and if something goes wrong, at least I'll know that I tried.

And here I am! Telling that story!

So, I stood there. But then I closed my eyes, looked at the giant Lord Shiva statue and said 'yes' to the Banana Boat guy. We went in the ocean with the ocean breeze caressing my hair like a mommy bird who is about to train her young one to fly. When they reached the spot, the speedboat took a sharp turn and the banana boat, sure enough, turned like a log and we all fell. Splash!

The next few seconds were just heartbeats when I gulped some water, the salt gushing in my nose and mouth. I regretted signing up but not for long.The thrust of the life jacket thrust me upwards and I breathed heavily as I reached the ocean surface. I saw all the smiling faces, all my friends, hooting, applauding my courage and holding hands.

For those few moments, I felt more alive than ever before. I felt as if had finally claimed my destiny. I lay in the lapping waves of the ocean and looked up at the clouds high above. Suddenly, life had a purpose and it was to live. Live to the fullest while you can- that was the message the ocean waves whispered in my ears. I floated like a log in the water and tried to swim. It was tough, so I went back to floating.

Finally, it was time to go back so, we went back, climbing, holding hands and pulling each other back into the boat. That was the day I realized that fear was nothing but a signal. A signal that something awesome is about to happen.

And till date, I crave for such moments, such days which can be used to bookmark my life, days which make it all... worthwhile.

Pre-Marital Sex Debate- Indiblogger Contest

The following post is a part of the Indiblogger contest in association with Poonam Uppal's newly released book-

A Passionaate Gospel of True Love : A Mystical True Love Story (English)

Here is a link to the flipkart page of the book- Click here

I think that pre-marital sex is something that is much frowned upon in all conservative quarters which is unfair because sex is a biological truth while marriage is a social one. Restraint in your sexual behaviour is advised but cannot be enforced. Just like no one can stop you from eating a bag of chips or a bar of chocolate just because they think you should be eating a salad. But then, fatty, oily food is actually bad for you while pre-marital sex, has no such repercussions (unless, of course, your partner gives you Chlamydia).

I think sex should be freed from the dogmas that surround it. And one of the dogmas is that it somehow corrupts the participants. I mean c'mon! It is one of the most beautiful things ever. Of course, there should be some discretion in who you should be having it with but that's only because it requires a high level of intimacy and can join two souls in one. It should be given the respect it deserves but, it should not be put behind a cloak of chastity. It doesn't corrupt. If anything, it only makes your presence of the Earth worthwhile. It is the highest form of intimacy one can share with another individual. It requires trust, passion, love, lust and desire.

My point is, I do not oppose pre-marital sex. It doesn't mean I am saying everyone should be having sex right away but, I am saying it should be up to the individual to decide and he or she should not let fear of values, morals or society guide him. They should think about the level of closeness they share with the other person and then go ahead if they feel comfortable. Again, if they are doing it just for the sake of doing it, I am not radically opposing that idea too. I am merely suggesting how it should be done. But the most importantly, it should be done with consent and you should let yourself feel impure or corrupted once you've had it.

Fear is a bad teacher. It guides your thoughts away from anything that it feels might harm you. Sometimes, it makes you stay away from things you love or should love just because it has some predispositions. Get rid of fear or doubt and just let love guide you. Love is a friendlier teacher, it asks you to walk through fire and makes you do amazing things you never thought you were capable of doing.

Love will make you plan adventurous trips with your partner, go on long drives, make passionate love with him or her. Love will make your heart grow stronger. Fear will make you weak and cowardly. It will also turn you into its agent and you'll be perpetrating the same fear that you felt.

Be a little unreasonable when it comes to following rules, especially those decided by the society and be more playful when it comes to the matters of the heart. I am not asking you to be promiscuous if you don't want to be. All I am saying is- do not be afraid. Love with all your heart. Let your heart bleed if it comes to that, but stay alive.

The dogmas about sex being a corrupting force are more or less related to the male chauvinism where every male somehow invented the idea of a chaste female because he was insecure of his manhood. He wanted an all-obeying wife who he could govern not with love but with fear and thus came this fear into existence.

It is the 21st century and it is about time we free the society from such unreasonable fears. Let's look at our biology and realize that sex is a natural act. Love, and let love.

Top 5 ways every book reviewer covers up for the authors.

1. Dealing with bad grammer

2. Dealing with a dumb writer

3. Dealing with incomprehensible gibberish

4. Dealing with generic thrillers

5. Dealing with romance novels

A weird prose- Colours!

Colour me red with your eye and throw me in the fire. Let me burn and bake until my skin is caked. Until the red turns black and the black turns blue, let me roast. I want you to not look at me when all this happens. I want you to turn around and put on some sneakers. I want you to take a walk around the street, across the town, waving to yellow people and smiley faces. I want to turn red and then black to blue, without you.

I want to be toughened, I want to glisten with sweat. I want the sweat to escape my pores and envelope my skin. I want it to teach me, guide me, glide me across the burning pyre toward the blueness.

I then want you to come over and watch. I want you to see what I turned into when you turned your back on me. I want you see me blue and then turn green with envy.

I don't want you to stay green though. I want you to turn generic yellow. I want no tinge of purple on your skin. I want you to disappear in the blackness as you step back, slowly and steadily. I want you to fall among square bricks, well-aligned and sorted out- just the way you like it. I want you to be safe and secure all your life. Caged in squares with all your Rubik's cubes solved and all your smiles planned and premeditated.

I will sit on my small white cloud, a little blue but I will have red eyes. No red eye correction software will work on me and I will burn within. But from outside, I will be blue and sometimes even purple.

If you, by any chance, realize that squares are boring or that clouds are more fun, come to me running. I will await your arrival sitting on this cloud. You can look at me and smile, it will be your first unplanned smile but that's the furthest I can allow you to go. I would not be able to hold my hand out and pull you up on my cloud. Because by then, I would have floated high above. Because, sometimes clouds drift away.

So, just go ahead and colour me red!

--Abhyudaya Shrivastava Copyright 2014

Thankfulness- A very short story.

The nervousness right before doing something new- it gripped him as he proceeded to hold her hand as she leaned toward him in that desolate street. It was a strange mix of emotions. It didn't have the air of a love story's beginning, neither did it have the grimness and pregnant moments of a drama. It was something usual and common, yet so difficult to comprehend.

It must happen to everyone, everyday and yet, why does it feel so new? She was a sad woman and he- a lonely man. A usual recipe for souls to come together and maybe unite, not in a transcendental, magical way but in the same way all the garbage, rejected the world, is swept together in one corner with no choice but to snuggle and feel fuzzy. Their time was borrowed and so was their happiness. They borrowed it from each other, scooped out from places they did not know existed. They reached inside the empty chocolate ice-cream cartons of their souls and ran a scoop across for the leftovers. They grabbed hold of whatever was left inside them and handed it to each other.

She was an ugly woman with a squint. She walked with a frailness that explained her extreme politeness. It was her mirror talking and it seemed like it lied. He never saw her the way she described herself. For him, she was a damsel in distress. Her squint was unnoticeable and her fragility rendered her a softness much like that of flower that needs to be protected. If anything, her eyes looked like those of a person who had just been slapped against the wishes of the universe. It seemed like it was his duty to make her happy to ensure that the universe was brought back in order.

He was a loser with no money plus, he was bad at conversations. He ended up saying the weirdest things making the whole situation turn comical, notwithstanding the gravity of it. It again was his analysis. To her, he was a stranger with a kind eye. His initial chatter assured her of gullibility and she could predict that he was quite incapable of tact and cunning. She felt safe around him.

She was crying inside the metro train when he saw her. They talked for a few minutes and it led to the eventual hand-holding. Of course, it didn't feel right but it felt like a good mistake to make. For both of them, it was a step forward.

A few years later, they were happily divorced, with a kid. The kid could never tell that his parents were divorced. They both seemed happy. They talked, laughed and many times, it felt like they had just kissed.

Were they in love? Was this a mistake since the beginning? Whatever it was, after all those years, one emotion that they had for each other was 'thankfulness'. 

Poem- To Win Everything

There's a rare song,
the cuckoo might sing.

It doesn't come easy,
but it has a good ring.

It needs less of feet,
and more of the wing.

Your blood it might spill,
your nerves it may wring.

It teaches you to lose,
it makes you face dying.

It's like you enter a restaurant,
to reluctance you mustn't cling.

Imagine your worst fears, decide your order.
Don't look at the waiter,

To your table, this platter
you yourself have to bring.

The crux of the matter,
is that winning is important,

but the catch is-

To win everything,
you must lose everything.

What is love? #RandomThoughts

Ah... love! Love is when there is no doubt, no fear and no bondage. It is when you are sure of yourself. 

You are not afraid but it is not because there is nothing to be afraid of, quite the opposite; it is because although there might be adversities but, you are not thinking about 'self' anymore. 

You cease to be important because the most important fabric of your being detaches itself from you and houses itself in someone else's soul. You become nothing and your love becomes everything.

You are not even scared of getting hurt because the emotion is not tangible, it cannot be hurt, it just exists. It hovers over your head and encompasses all your thoughts and actions. It is love.