The Bucket List!

Not very long back... maybe like 10-odd years ago, I read somewhere about creating a bucket list.

I don't really remember what triggered it. However, just like an itch that needs to be scratched, soon after, I ventured into creating a bucket list for myself. I have no idea where that list lies today! However, I bet, that does not change much. Think about it, as a person despite of me having changed I am sure most of my bucket list would still remain consistent.

So, today morning I came across an a picture of me a few years back and happily told myself I have changed so much now. Or have I? And the itch came right back!

And I looked up the social mirror and re-discover one such list by me done in 2009. Although the list was meant to be about random things about me, I believe it clearly highlighted what I like to do and what I would love to do in the future with sufficient resources.

But looking at it now, surprises me, disappoints even. Here was a list of things I would love to do. The disappointment was simply because it made me feel so common. Just like everyone else. Finite. Perishable. With a due date.

Years pass us by. We live and love loads of moments. But how many of us really fulfill all our bucket lists before really kicking the bucket?

And that is when lightening stuck me! We love to make plans and think we are the masters of our lives. I will travel the world. I will leap from the highest mountain and dive into the deepest of the ocean bed. I will be a best selling author. I will mother a daughter. I will climb the Everest. How close I am to living any of these at the present moment... barely any! What stops me? 

The everyday realities and emotions of our livelihood.

I travel the journey of life everyday. I take giant leaps of faith. Divulge in love which leads to emotional roller coasters ranging from happiness like being on the top of the world to lonely depressions like being hidden underneath the earth's crust. By forging new friendships and sometimes letting go of some others, write and re-write the story of our enmeshed lives. I allow myself to dream, the highest dream. A new dream every day and every night.

These never feature on any bucket list that I have seen. I live my bucket list. It is pretty never ending. I still want to travel the world & author a bestseller besides other things. It just means that my bucket list will remain never ending. But none will be able to say I did not live up to my bucket list either! 

What do you think?

#SMJ - Arousing a nation!

There is a new obsession with my Sundays.

No matter how late I have slept, I wake up bang at 11am to turn on my TV.

My last treasured memories of awesome Sunday morning goes right back to my childhood days where waking up to He-Man, Discovery of India, Chanakya, etc on Doordarshan was an absolute must!

I have to say after a huge time lapse another show is tingling my senses with good minded excitement. Satyamev Jayate or #SMJ

A lot has been said about the show already. Every Sunday morning as I log in to Twitter, I unfailing notice at least two trending topics around #SMJ. Every time a Facebook update shows up, it garners 500+ likes within seconds.

The content on the show is thought provoking albeit a bit dramatic. However, I don't see that as a negative. For all those who only notice the drama, you fail to realize we have had channels like NDTV that dish good content consistently without dramatics and most of us do not even notice the channel quite frankly.

The fact is that as a nation, we are obsessed with drama / reality TV.  The dramatics attracts your eyeballs and keeps them there too! Uninteresting content does not hold our attention for too long... 

Kudos to #SMJ for making people watch a show that addresses everyday reality. These are topics that one feels always happens to someone else, until it falls upon you.

The rating and the widespread fire is for everyone to see. It is doing what it set out to do - garner attention. It is difficult to ignore it. And I believe its a good thing too. Good because it has even been able to move a few state governments into action. This is positive action associated with it. And that is exactly why I think it is so powerful.

Having said that it does not mean all evil is now eliminated from this planet. Good things come in small packages. Every bit counts. And I believe that is the need / necessity of the hour. The belief that a billion of us can bring a positive change.

Too long we have believed "Even if I change, not like the country will come back on track". That needs to change. Every single positive change matters.

If #SMJ can ring in the bells for those changes, then it can be called truly successful.