Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Mission Success!

Bluntly speaking!
The mantra of success, they say, is to maintain one’s cool in times of impossibly difficult turbulence in life. This is a guaranteed approach and is said to effortlessly work well for both professional and personal life alike (the tele-shopping way!).
The success gurus always seem to be in a rush to develop novel models that work for all and sundry- One size fits all approach, if you like. There are manifold schools of thought on this subject matter though. And every such stratagem has come about from years of research and first-hand experiences, they all claim.
Anyway all such models apart, success in life does come through hard work and a pinch of luck, accept it or not. Slogging it out is the key, no matter what the shape or size of the lock is! In other words, there is no easy way to achievement. Success does not come by often to pay a visit. It hardly does in fact. But if it does come, one has to grab it not only with both hands but also, if possible, wrap it with both legs as well. Can’t take a chance with life, can we?
So as they say, nothing succeeds like success. But success has a compromise value tagged to it. One may scale the Mt. Everest or dive to the bottom of Mariana Trench, success may still elude us. One may make a living- room on the moon or drill down a few thousand layers beneath the earth’s crust and lay a tunnel connecting Oslo and Canberra, yet achievement may still appear out of reach. What then is success really? Is success for real? Is it like you get it and ‘live happily ever after’ kind of a thing? What really is success? This question, it appears, is in some way turning out to be a dilemma for many.
What are we after really? Where are we heading? Whom are we following? Do we even know the course we have taken for this long expedition to success? Where did we start in the first place? All these uncertainties baffle every time I pick a discourse on the ‘road to success’ and related subject! The answers are there somewhere; I would love to think so atleast.
Anyway the point is, in our zeal to achieve something novel, something different, we have lost our way somewhere. We have lost relationships, we have lost our decency, we have let down dear ones, we have lost our integrity, and we have lost ourselves- being human. We have in fact failed to attain the greatest feat any human could possibly achieve- being a man or a woman. Just being one, the sheer personification of being one.
Success in life has become the mission, life has taken a backseat. That is still fine so long as we do not go on hitting below the belt along our way. But far from sticking to rules, we are all ever ready to trample over any thing, repeat anything that comes our way in our quest to “achieve”. Mission Success has failed and failed terribly. Abort!!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

My People, My Land

Patriotically speaking!

‡ Rising high from the enchanting Dzükou valley
Streaming down to the brimming Doyang banks
Towering with royal pride the Mt.Saramati
Stretching to the majestic forest the Intangki
From the hush of the hills of Pangsha
To the rush of the plains of Dhansiri
Rests my land in a mosaic of colours
Colours of festivals, dances and warriors!
‡ A montage of cultures and peoples,
The ubiquitous and warriorly the Sumis
The simple but ever out-reaching the Kukis
The contented but vivid the Yimchungers
The native but courteous the Khiamniungans
The beauty personified and avant-garde the Aos
The unsung but loyal patrons the Phoms
The quaint but humorous the Lothas
The somber but industrious the Rengmas.
‡ The historically-oriented but affable the Changs
The stout but cheerful the Chakhesangs
The vibrant and mingling the Sangtams
The aged but sharp-witted the Konyaks
The dance-beauty and colour-embodied the Zeliangs
The gracious and candid the Pochurys
The vague but ever present the Kacharis
The undulating but blessed the Angamis
Oh a grandiose medley on land
My People, my land, Nagaland!
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