Gladiator...Courage to face life!!!

Just imagine...We are standing behind the closed gates, hearing chilling voices of heartless fighters, roaring& hungry wild animals and ofcourse sound of deadly weapons. Ok, now comes a valid a question. Why are we standing there? Because dear friends & wellwishers, the doors will open soon and we will be let out to fight...

I know, this may remind you of the scene from the famous Oscar winning movie ‘Gladiator’. However, there is much more to look out for.

When the first scene of the fight of gladiators unfolds, there is a man who is scared till death and another man who wasn’t. Guess, who is the first to be killed when the gates are opened? Obviously, the man who is scared... This scene has really left an impact on me.

Many a times, we stand behind the closed doors really fearing what will happen; what will come out; will we survive? But believe me, it never helps. Fearing or dodging in life never help. I heard somewhere, “Nowhere to run; nowhere to hide, this is the time until we die”. Quite true!!!

It happens everywhere. I mean...

· If we join an office, we may fear of challenging assignments. Sometimes, we fear of losing the job.

· If we appear for an exam, we may fear of difficult questions. And then we fear for the results.

· If we play a game say football, we may fear of ball coming to us.

· If we have a great family & friends, we may fear losing them.

· If we fall into love, we may fear... The fear is endless...

In retrospect, we all find that most of the times the things which we feared the most when happened, we had absolutely no choice but to face them Here the point is that we have always moved on. We all have our share of failures & heartbreaks, but if we are still here, it means something.

If whatever is going to happen will happen, then can we avoid wasting our life in fear? I mean, isn’t we need prepare us to confront the situation with courage and dignity rather than fearing.

I know it is easier to say than do. But it is worth trying...

We cannot expect life to be always fair with us, yes it also true. This is my second observation in the movie. We all have witnessed this at some or the other time in our lives. But it is not about what life does to us; it is about how we do in life.

There is a quite inspiring dialogue about life from the movie, Rocky,“You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!”

Let the life offer whatever it has and let we face it with strength& courage.

Let us dare to look forward to every challenging situation. It may be a game or an assignment; it may be an adventurous sport or falling in love...

Let us concede that we all are gladiators in our life and we are meant to face, fight and survive. Life much more than fears for the worst. Life is about living. It doesn't matter, what is behind the gates, we need to believe and have absolute faith that we will deal with whatever comes.

Let us wait for the gates to be opened.

With a fearless smile,

Pragati Soni

The magic of giving...It's what you can give that shows your real worth

Sometimes small and simple things actually move us...

Believe me, an event need not be a grand one to inspire us in fact it can be a small incident which gives us hope of kindness and proof of magnanimity.

Few days back, I happened to read a book, 'Soul Curry'. It has got many real life experiences to touch & heal our heart. There is one very simple anecdote in it which made me to think that a person may or may not be beautiful; may or may not be intelligent; may or may not be rich...what we bear in mind is what actually that person has made us to feel which is often associated with what the person has given us, may bea materialistic gift or a non-materialistic memory. Yes, we don't really remember people for their name and face but for what they have given us. "Giving gift" is an age old tradition which much more than just a formality. This anecdote is really a decent picture of a beautiful & giving heart. It goes like...

"I believe everyone in their lifetime comes across a bit of magic that reminds them the importance of the word 'give'. The incident, which reminded me of the well known saying "Its's more blessed to give than to receive", happened a few weeks before my sister's wedding. With a heavy heart, I left the wedding cheer at home for another town to attend some important lectures.

My parents had the room ready and waiting for me and as I entered, I walked into what seemed like a Christmas floral shop. Red poinsettia and other bouquets crowded the window sill, along with a stack of cards that waited to be opened. I felt overwhelmed by the love and attention.

Just then a voice broke into my reverie. "Hey, I'll be sharing the room with you," said the 20-something girl who stepped into the room. She had short, curly grey hair and brown eyes. She stared at the flower like child-like wonder.

She introduced herself as Dollie and we chatted on till it was time for dinner. Not once did she mention her family and did I asked. In her company, life suddenly seemed easier and she also continued to exclaim excitedly at the cards and flowers I continued to receive.

On our last evening together, Dollie decided to visit the market. As I walked through the room alone, I noticed for the first time the stark constrast between our sides of the room. There was Dollie's bed that stood neat and sparse except for a red candelabra with holy sprigs, which she had brought along. Infact, I realized I had never seen her getting any calls either during her stay. In constrast, my bed was filled with gifts and I was flooded with calls from my family and friends.

I decided to give her something of mine as a parting gift. I looked around at the things I had and wondered if I could part with any of it. Of course, I couldn't give mom and dad's Yule log with candles, I thought. What about the new jacket?But, then, my sister badly wanted me to wear it when I reached home. The justifications kept even as I climbed onto my bed, placating my guilt by promising myself to call the nearby gift shop to order some flowers to Dollie the next day.

I awoke the next morning with thoughts of returning home, with some of the guilt resurfacing as I remembered that the gift shop would'nt open for another two days. Moreover, Dollie's train was scheduled before mine.

"I've really enjoyed getting to know you, Dollie," I finally told her. My words were sincere but I felt guilty for not having followed up on intentions.

To my surprise, she picked up her only possesion, the red candled centrepiece, and gently laid it in my hands. "I'll miss you, " she said, giving me a big hug. "Thank you, " is all I could manage to whisper.

As I heard the doors closing behind Dollie, I knew in my heart that she possessed much more than I did. "

Sometimes, people give the only thing they have. Blessed to have such people in our lives.

Giving something is not just a formality, it is giving a part of our being to be with that person. Yes, it is true, "It's what you can give that shows your real worth", it is the worth of our soul and heart which is priceless.

With a giving smile ,

Pragati Soni

I still love speed....

I simply love speed...My family says I talk fast...My friends say I walk fast...and no doubt I say I drive fast...But the key point is I still drive fast...I still love speed.

Around 12 years back I met with an accident while driving..to be very honest...while driving very fast..(I didn't collide with anybody...). Nice experience...not because I got injuries but because I learnt something due to that incident(ok..ok..accident ) from my father.

During my recovery, my father, who also happened to be my driving teacher, never showed me any fear how would I drive now...After recovering, when I had to again start driving..my father just gave me the keys...

Yes, I took the charge, after all I had to restart my engineering coaching. At that young age(my young age) my father taught me that falling from your horse doesn't mean you should never ride again. The important thing is to get back on the horse and ride it again. Fear never gets you anywhere.

He showed that my fall didn't shake his trust in me...

He taught me the courage to restart...to rebuild...to relive...

His silent assurance conveyed me that my failures should never stop me from doing whatever I feel like doing and failures should only make me to do the things with more conviction, renewed spirit & new zeal...May be someday...I will be successful in doing that in true sense and make him feel proud.

But yes, no doubt, it is  probably because of my father...I still love speed...

Thanks Papa..:-)))


With a salute to all fathers,

Pragati Soni

It is ok to fight...!!!

Dear friends & wellwishers,

Today's write up is dedicated to my sweet little sister Prerna. Like her name she always inspires me to do what I love to do and most importantly to be myself .

My sister always says that one should not strive to become ideal but to be what really he/she wants to be. Very very true!!!

Really, it is ok to be imperfect. People say that we should accept others with their imperfection but what is equally important to accept our imperfection and to be happy with it

Sometimes...

It is ok to cry

It is ok to laugh aloud

It is ok to get angry

It is ok to feel jealous

It is ok to be lazy

It is ok to be careless

It is ok to break rules

It is ok to commit mistakes

It is ok to fall in love again

It is ok to fight with our near & dear ones

We usually accept people for what they are but when it comes to us we become a bit hard on ourselves.

We question ourselves for being normal...Like

We become sad if we have not got what we desire but we don't accept that we can be sad. We show that we are invincible and nothing can affect us. What is the point? Fine, if we were hurt. We are simple human beings.

We curse us for being careless that how can we be that...In fact life becomes easier if we admit that. It happens...

Research shows that it better to be express anger actively rather than passively. So suppressing the anger is neither good for health nor for our relationships.

We feel jealous sometimes because of xyz reason. No matter how secure we feel but sometimes if we feel insecure we can acknowledge that.

Falling in love (I don't mean crush), is one of the most wonderful feelings. We want to spend our entire life and dedicate ourself to someone. But sometimes, nothing goes as expected and everything falls apart. We should take our time, forgive, forget & heal but we should not close the doors. It is not bad to fall in love again.

Fight, believe me sometimes our loved ones want that. Every emotion has got its own significance. Fight with them and fight for them. It makes one happy and worth.

You know what, there is a serious repercussion if we strive to be perfect and that is, we actually stop to be what we actually are. Here I am not saying that we should not work on getting rid of bad habits or any bad emotion however there is fine balance. For instance...

Crying is having a healing effect however too much crying stops us from living a happy life.

Laughing is again the most qualitative moment we can gift to ourselves. However, where to laugh and on what to laugh at also matters.

Getting angry is fine however what is important is to get angry at the right time and right reason which makes all the difference.

Feeling jealous...all right. We may be afraid in loosing something or someone but it should not lead in hurting somebody.

Want to rest and spend time in practically doing nothing. Go ahead, sometimes it is required however we should not forget "Time & tide waits for nobody".

Sometimes we are too much occupied in life that we commit silly mistakes and carelessly handle (mishandle) a situation. There is a limit of that too. Booking tickets for wrong train or date when we are expected or needed by loved ones is not good at all.

Love should always be taken as lifetime commitment. It should not be taken as time pass but sometimes if things don't go as we have expected...in such circumstances we should not lose our hope "Love like we have never loved before" and we should try our best to make it work. We don't fall in love everyday.

Fight is important and has its own power to revive relationbships. However, we should not let it break the bond of trust & love.

We need to take life easy. We should try not to make it difficult for anybody not even for us. We should not try to make it hard for us but always try to live it.

When I started writing this today, I thought I would write it short however I accept my imperfection of giving good amount of details. I think it is ok and if you think not, you can always fight with me. It is ok to fight!!!

Thanks betu...you are a wonderful sister :-)

This time I am signing off with an imperfect smile

Pragati Soni

The Dash...

Whenever I see somebody’s eulogy afterlife, there is one part which usually strikes (me). It is the birth year & the death year which is usually combined by a small ‘DASH’. And probably, the most important of all is the dash between those two years. Our loved ones or anybody remember those dates but do we know why? It is only because of that dash; the small dash that represents our entire lifetime.

We may own property worth millions but what really matters is how we have spent that dash in touching hearts & soul, in short in touching lives. What matters is how we have lived & loved in those years which are represented by a small dash after our lifetime.

If there is anything we can change to make this lifetime worth then this is the time to do it for we never know how much time is left.

If we can just slow down and think to make that dash beautiful, then we should give it a try.

If we can make few things better in this world, then we should give it a try.

If we can bring smile to few faces, then we should give it a try.

If we can revive the true relationships or keep them alive, then we should give it a try.

We can be a simple human being while doing all these. It is just to realise what is true & real.

It is just to try to understand the way other people feel; the ones who love us and care for us.

It is just an effort to realize that the times might be tough for someone and so not to judge anybody on a bad day.

It is just to become less quick to anger.

It is just to trust somebody as sometimes trust is a bigger compliment then to love.

It is just to show appreciation more.

It is just to be grateful to everybody around us.

It is just to treat everyone with respect.

It is just to love the people in our lives.

It is just to leave a hope in everybody to believe in the beauty of that dash.

That little dash is really worth and deserves a thought to make it more meaningful and probably we should always remember that the dash is the most important part between those two dates.

Thanks for being a part of my dash---

With a beautiful smile,

Pragati