Dance at your own Pace!

When I started belly dancing it was a dream come true. I wanted to learn this form of dancing all my life! And here I was in a class with an experienced belly dance teacher trying to learn the first few steps. I can remember that day like it was yesterday. And I can remember everything I felt. First it was so much joy and then slowly when we started dancing it was fear. 

Fear of failure. 

I was so afraid - What if I couldn't do this? What If I made a fool of myself ? I knew that I had nothing to prove to anyone but what If I couldn't do something I dreamt of all of my life. This looked so hard, why am I challenging myself with something so tough... All the love for belly dancing looked as if it was evaporating in those moments. I tried hard to learn each step and kept practicing till I got it right. And still I felt so afraid that I won't be able to cope with the next higher step or the next movement. Many times the fear made me forget the steps. I started becoming nervous and yet there was this part of my so happy to be there - belly dancing! 

It took months for me to understand my love for belly dancing and face my fear of learning --- its truly been a wonderful journey so far. The real moment of truth for me came the day I realised that I didn't do this to compete with anyone. I was learning because I had this strong love for learning this dance form and If I was going to let all my fears scare me away then I was such an idiot. I didn't deserve to learn. That one moment changed all that turbulence I felt inside me. 

Today , I feel free when I dance. I feel joy and I find freedom in the dance steps . I am not the greatest dancer yet ;-), but I know I am good. I feel happy with my progress and my teacher encourages me. 

Source

I dance at my own pace! :)

I feel learning anything new is always like this. The more we grow, the more fears we have. Isn't that why children learn so fast while the adults struggle? We have to learn to face our fears of failure to move ahead if we really wish to learn something.

Empty Vessel

It’s an empty vessel 
~Author unknown




A young farmer was covered with sweat as he paddled his boat up the river. He was going upstream to deliver his produce to the village and he was in a hurry. It was a hot day and he wanted to make his delivery and get home before dark. As he looked ahead, he spotted another vessel, heading rapidly downstream towards his boat. It was coming at a good pace too. This farmer rowed furiously to get out of the way, but it did not seem to help.
He yelled at the other vessel, “Change direction, you idiot! You are going to hit me. The river is wide. Change your course". His screaming was of no use. The other vessel hit his boat with a big loud thud. He was enraged as he stood up and cried out to the other vessel. “Stupid! How could you manage to hit my boat in the middle of this wide river? What is wrong with you? "
 
And as he looked at the other vessel he realized that there was no one in the other boat. He was screaming at an empty vessel that had broken free of its moorings and was going downstream with the current.
The lesson is very simple. 

There is never anyone in the other boat.
 
When we are angry we are screaming at an empty vessel.
 
All of us know people who drive us crazy, whom we hate to the core with passion. We may have spent countless hours reliving the moments when this person was unfair, unappreciative or inconsiderate to us. Even remembering this person pumps up our blood pressure.
 
The best way of dealing with people like this is to not let them make us angry. Getting angry doesn’t help in improving the situation and life is too short to waste on feeling bad or staying with grudges.
Next time when there is a surge of anger in you, just remember this.
 
There is never anyone in the other boat. It’s an empty vessel always.

Nice guys?

It's not the "nice" guy who brings about real social change. "Nice" guys look nice because they're conforming. It's the "bad" guys, who only look nice a hundred years later, that are the real Dynamic force in social evolution.



Source:
Pirsig, Robert M., Lila. An inquiry into morals. New York (Bantam Books) 1991, 161

Dreams

Throw your dreams into space like a kite,
and you do not know what it will bring back,
a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.
~~Anais Nin

Beauty

 

Shocking photo created a hero, but not to his family

 James Zwerg's physical wounds healed after he was attacked by an Alabama mob, but the emotional wounds festered.

 Excerpt from John Blake's 2004 book "Children of the Movement." given below. Originial article can be found here.


Zwerg's parents had forsaken him for joining the civil rights movement. That same night, he had written a letter that was to be handed to them in case he was killed. It explained his decision to join the Freedom Riders.
Zwerg called his mother to tell her where he was going.
"Don't go. Don't go," she said. "You can't do this to your father."
"I have no choice. I have to," he said.
"You killed your father," his mother replied. Then she hung up.
The Greyhound bus doors hissed open. Zwerg had volunteered to go first. The mob swarmed him as he stepped off the bus, yelling, "Nigger lover! Nigger lover!"
Then, as the mob grabbed him, Zwerg closed his eyes and bowed his head to pray. "The Lord is my light and salvation, of whom shall I fear ... "
The mob dragged him away.

Zwerg tells the story behind the photo


Many thanks to my friend Cindy for sharing this story from the Civil Rights movement in America. There may have been many heroes like Zwerg who gave up their safe life to move towards unknown and sometimes as in his case sad future. But in their heart they never gave up hope and fought for what matters to us all : Freedom.

My heart is with Zwerg and others like him who help the world become a better place for all.

BookFish is 2 years old. Happy Birthday !

I co-founded BookFish Community with Anant Awadhut, Tushar Nafde and Dhimant Bhundia, a community of Book lovers in MindTree , Pune about two years ago. Yesterday we celebrated BookFish's 2nd birthday in Pune. BookFish is one of the most vibrant and active communities in MindTree which has over 9,000 employees across the world. 

BookFish has over 500 members across various MindTree locations. This is a community of volunteers who believe in the power of Books. They believe that we must not limit ourselves to reading books, we must also share the knowledge we get from the books. BookFish organizes book readings, discussions and fun sessions all connected with the thoughts of learning and sharing knowledge. These sessions are open for all.

I helped this community grow from a mere 4 people to over 100 people in MindTree, Pune and other locations. I love books so creating and helping BookFish grow was the most normal thing to do. But when I started working on it, I realised the power of Communities. How can few people come together and create something that goes on growing even when they are no longer around? I found the answer to that question. I also realised the power of ideas! They say one idea can change the world - that is so true and I have been lucky to experience this myself.

MindTree is a wonderful company. I say this to people all the time, " You can go out of MindTree, but MindTree will not go out of you!" :) Thanks to amazing people like Ashok Soota, Subroto Bagchi and others who founded this company. 

I will post pictures from the BookFish birthday celebrations soon. 

Meanwhile, Happy Reading to all of you ~~  :)