Music To My Ears!

There are days when you just want to listen to music. Relax, unwind and get lost in the rhythm, to get lost in the harmony, to get lost in the melody. This feeling to feel the music reverbing throughout the soul is what I define as a MIRACLE.

Miracles happen every day, all day around us. We are a miracle, we are music. Ever heard the term, “Music to my ears?” It holds a deeper meaning! The sound of silence, the voice of a child melting a mother’s heart, the sound of laughter. These are the best musical instruments of our lives. We all know how to play these instruments, we all want to share this music but somehow we don’t.

It takes years of practice to learn how to play a guitar or a piano or a violin. Likewise it takes years of practice to master how to laugh when there is sorrow. But the person, who can do that, is the true hero. We forget. We forget the internal music which in playing in our souls and forgetting is like a wound. The wound may heal but it has already left a scar. Being alone is more painful than being hurt and this music connects us all. That’s what I call as the best social media. I want to be this kind of musician and my music will never leave anyone behind. It will be like an island of peace and love. An island from a dream within a dream! I could never pass up a great adventure like this! Would you?

You tell me! What is music to your ears?

-          Tushar Sharma

2016

Chakrata: ROI OF HAPPINESS Unlockar Apps, Company Offsite Friday, Sept 18th, 2015 -By Tushar Sharma

Chakrata: ROI OF HAPPINESS

Unlockar Apps, Company Offsite

Friday, Sept 18^th, 2015

-By Tushar Sharma

Now that’s what we call an excellent ROI – the smiling faces of all the Unlockar family members.

 On 18^th September 2015, we went for our company’s (read family’s) 2^nd annual Rest & Recreation (R&R) trip to Chakrata, Uttarakhand. Read more about our first trip.

Chakrata is a charming little town with dotting mountain sides and valleys and is situated between the Tons and Yamuna rivers at an elevation of 7000–7250 feet at a distance of 300 odd kilometres from New Delhi and that’s all the information we needed to pack our bags and head towards a new adventure.

With our team of 9 people (Piyush, Gopal, Manish, Rohit, Daljeet A.K.A DJ, Sunil, Ankit, Prashant & Tushar), we headed for this much awaited 3 day trip to the Himalayas and right in the beginning we knew that this trip will be epic & that Gopal has done his magic again. He had told us that this time it will be bigger, better and more adventurous, even though our last trip to Churwadhar was phenomenal.

There is nothing ordinary or mundane in the life of Unlockar. This time as well, everything was well planned - camping in the mountains, trekking on jungle trail, soaking breath taking water falls!! Imagine a kid in candy land!! Yes, Gopal is our Willy Wonka!! (Calculation of ROI of Happiness begins.)

Day #1

6:00 AM: Time to assemble, the adventure begins

Carrying everything from cricket bats to poker set, we all assembled on time with our bags ready with a big grin on our faces. After finally settling down in our evergreen beasts – a Black Pajero and a White Fortuner, we finally flagged off our journey, crooning away to the songs by Mohit Chauhan, Arijit Singh.

  

 8:00 AM: Breakfast at Zilmil Dhaba, Karnal

Nothing binds the Unlockar team better than food!! And nothing can top the food of famous road side dhabas J!!! After having a scrumptious meal of Paranthas and Tea, it was time to hit the road again.

2:00 PM: Chakrata!! The heaven in hills!!

We reached Chakrata at 2 PM and were greeted by the ever smiling Mitesh, manager and owner of the beautiful and luxury camping place called Blue Canvas Resort.

The view was breath taking with high green mountains and deep valleys in a blanket of clouds. We were in India’s very own personal Switzerland. As soon as we entered, there was a race to choose the best tents but we soon realized that every one of them offered a breath taking view of the valley. After having a quick lunch, our resort manager took us to Tiger Fall, which was 32 Kilometre from the resort.

5:00 PM: The Roaring Tiger Falls

After having the famous Rajma of Chakrata in lunch, we left for Tiger Fall at 3:30 PM. After a drive of 1.5 hours and an easy walking trek of 500 metres, we were able to see and hear the roaring Tiger Fall.

Tiger Fall is one of the highest direct water fall in Uttarakhand. Locally known as “Kerao Pacchad”. Tiger Fall makes a roaring sound (as that of a Tiger) during its direct descent from 100 meters cliff into a small pool.

Water from the pool collects in a small pool and overflows from there into a rivulet which flows in steps through entire landscape surrounding the fall.

During monsoon, Tiger fall show its full glory. The mist it creates during that time makes it difficult to look towards fall even from 50 meters of distance.

We got drenched even from a distance and the smiles were bigger than ever. The hustle bustle of Delhi was far behind and the only official targets left to achieve were to gather more memories and happiness. The ROI is ever increasingJ!!

 8:00 PM: Back to camp for Bonfire

We left from Tiger Falls at around 6:30 PM and reached back to our resort by 8:00 PM. The staff informed us that the dinner will be ready in an hour (though we ended up having our dinner only after midnight) and, in the meanwhile, we can enjoy the bonfire.

The highlight of the day was indeed the bonfire. The air was chilly, we were wet after visiting the falls and tired to our bones, the bonfire was a like a dream come true. Our very own Daljeet (DJ) connected the Bluetooth speakers and then began the night we would never forget. 

Fire, music, friends & food, what else do you need? As the great line of a great song by Metallica goes, “Nothing else matters!!!”

Day #2

8:30 AM: Wake up!!

Most of us woke up the next day with tiresome limbs and aching heads (I guess you know why our heads were aching ;-) )

The moment we came out of our tents to see the morning glow on the mountains and the sun-lit dew on the grass exploding into a million rainbows, all our head aches and tiredness vanished in an instant. The view was to die for. God himself painted this marvellous landscape just for us. All nine of us were sitting in absolute silence, yet communicating our love for the place and this team because of whom we were able to be here today and enjoy the “Wanderers for Life”

9:30 AM: Breakfast, Pool & Table Tennis!!

Breakfast was served at 9:30 AM and after feasting on the eggs and sandwiches we decided to play pool and Table Tennis in the resort.

Every team member claimed to be the undisputed champion of one game or the other, only to realise that we all are blessed with two left feet and absolutely no hand-eye coordination. We are techies and not sportsmen L

12:15 PM: Trekking trip to Budher caves and Moila Top

The highlight of the whole Chakrata trip was this 5 Kilometres long jungle trek from Budher to Moila Danda Peak also called Moila Top. The uphill 2.5 kilometres trek (one way) was treacherous and extremely exhausting. It took us 1.15 hours to complete just 2.5 km. All of us took 10 stops to control our breath and heartbeat, never giving up on the idea of scaling the summit, even if it caused us a seizure.

And boy, were we glad that we made it to the top! The view was like nothing we had imagined. It was enough to make a grown man cry out of joy and delight. 360° view of the valley covered in grass and trees. Mountains in the background covered with snow and chilly wind blowing across our face. We were in heaven. We could hear the god whispering in our ears through the wind and we were thanking him for such wonders.

Budher is a place famous for its historic caves, Budher Caves. These caves are also well known by the name of Moila Caves, named after a German national, Moila, who discovered and explored these caves. Budher caves are still unexplored due to unknown, difficult terrains. Legends believe that Budher caves were built by Pandavas of Mahabharata epic and are more than 150 Kilometres in length.

Moila Tibba is a panoramic green meadow encircling an age old Lord Shiva temple. This meadow is at a height of 2590 mtrs and offers the magnificent view of the Himalayan ranges.

5:00 PM: Downhill trek, Chakrata market and back to resort

At 5:00 PM we started our downhill trek. It was very easy in comparison to the uphill trek, as gravity did all the work. We covered the 2.5 km downhill trek in 30 minutes and then we headed to Chakrata market.

Chakrata market is a very small market, unlike the big and famous mall roads of Shimla, Manali etc. It was an absolute pleasure to interact with the locals, who were very kind, welcoming and warm hearted.

8:00 PM: Dinner, ghosts & lights out!!

We reached back at 8:00 PM and sat around the bonfire after freshening up. Someone suggested to talk about ghost stories and experiences. It is sort of customary to talk about all the scary stuff at night, especially when you are in the mountains.

After some chilling stories and a delicious dinner, everyone excused themselves to their respective tents to hide inside the blankets hoping to sleep but every rustle of the tree and howl of the wind made sure that we had the longest night we all have ever experienced.

Day #3

9:00 AM: Waking up on the last day!!

All of us woke up at 9:00 AM. We were so enamoured with this trip that we were sad to go back home. We all sat silently for an hour in front of our tents, soaking in the beauty, freshness and camaraderie that we experienced in the last three days.

  

 After a quick breakfast, we packed our bags and slowly walked to our cars to finally go home. We left behind all those mesmerizing mountains and carried infinite memories and happiness for life.

7:30 PM: Arrived Home!!!

We left from Chakrata at 12:30 PM and reached Delhi at around 7:30 PM in the evening.

The ROI of happiness was achieved. The quota of memories was filled to the brim and we all were ready to head back to work to develop mind blowing apps for all our users. We are refreshed and ready to roll!!!

“Come be a part of Unlockar Family!!”

At the end…..

At the end…..

We live only for a few years.

In the enormity of time and universe, our existence in insignificant. We are nothing but dust; I am nothing but dust, yet we all try to leave a mark in the world. Lifetime spent earning stacks of money, lifetime spent collecting things we don’t need, lifetime spent desiring things that doesn't matter, thinking or sadly hoping that in the end it will leave a mark, that in the end we will matter… I will matter.

The most intense and divine thing to do in life is to love. I know it because I have loved. I know because I have been loved, god knows more than I deserve. Love makes you significant. Love is the power bestowed by gods to us, so that we can transcend boundaries and achieve greatness, so that we can matter, so that the dust leaves a mark in the cosmos. After all, according to physics, it’s just a single particle of dust which becomes a giant life sustaining star. I was once a star. A star created by the warmth of love. A star which I nearing its end, not because the star is dying but because the warmth is gone.

It takes unimaginable amount of pain to realize that at the end the only thing which matters, is whether you have ever loved and been loved. All the money in the world, all the possessions will mean nothing, if you don’t have the hand of your loved one in your hand, or their whisper in the ear that they are with you or if their face is not before you as darkness spreads and life is sucked out of the cold, listless body, at the very end….

I don’t understand why people fear “the end”? “The End” is the most inevitable, most ultimate form of peace you will ever get. It’s the life that scares me. Life has pain, struggle, expectations and worst of all heart breaks. Dying is easy. But dying is not an option. You would have to wait for the right time destined for you to die, it’s the waiting period till then which drains you. When will I get my peace? A few decades to wait I guess or whatever the mighty universe has planned.

A single day without love is like a lifetime in hell. So I wonder if anybody would willingly lose this love. Well that’s the beauty of it. A lifetime in hell is nothing compared to momentary happiness of the person you love and precisely for that reason you will be willing to lose that love. Your love is true when you love someone enough to let go. For their happiness…..

Letting go is easy…running away…hiding. But for that special someone sometimes, at the end, you have to let go….

Don’t compare your insides to someone else’s outsides.

 “Look at him, he is so good at studies, he will be a big man one day, you better learn to repair scooters so that at least you can be a mechanic when you grow up, as you are a loser”, these words still echo in my mind, even after 15 years, said by someone close, who I know will never think ill of me. OUCH IRONY HURTS!!!

But why did the person who is so close say it??

The answer is simple, this happens because we compare apples with oranges. The grass is always green on the other side, the greener the grass is, the worst it gets for you. Knowing that one day the cattle of destiny will graze on that same grass on the other side, still a seed of doubt is planted in our mind at an early stage & you wonder and waste your efforts in irrigating your life with unnecessary seeds making your life greener, knowing that it will be chopped untimely, still you do it. This “YOU” I keep mentioning is not any random guy, this “YOU” is all of us.

Someone asked me, “Why can’t I have a boyfriend like Edward Cullen? Why can’t my love life be like that of Romeo & Juliet? Why can’t I be as lucky as Captain Jack Sparrow??”

I could not answer then, I found it lame, but now I don’t and I know the answer. Don’t compare your life story to those you watch in movies. They are written by scriptwriters, yours is written by GOD…

I was doing some research on the Japanese culture and I came across a very interesting story, which touched my heart and opened my eyes. The story goes on like this….

Once upon a time, a samurai, a very proud warrior, came to see a Zen Master one day. The samurai was very famous, but looking at the beauty of the Master and the Grace of the moment, he suddenly felt inferior.

He said to the Master, "Why am I feeling inferior? Just a moment ago everything was okay. As I entered your court suddenly I felt inferior. I have never felt like that before. I have faced death many times, and I have never felt any fear -- why am I now feeling frightened?"

The Master said, "Wait. When everyone else has gone, I will answer. "

People continued the whole day to come and see the Master, and the samurai was getting more and more tired waiting. By evening the room was empty, and the samurai said,

"Now, can you answer me?"

The Master said, "Come outside."

It was a full moon night, the moon was just rising on the horizon. And he said, "Look at these trees. This tree is high in the sky and this small one beside it. They both have existed beside my window for years, and there has never been any problem. The smaller tree has never said to the big tree, 'Why do I feel inferior before you?' This tree is small, and that tree is big -- why have I never heard a whisper of it?"

The samurai said, "Because they can't compare."

The Master replied, "Then you need not ask me. You know the answer."

The mantra of life lies in living your own life and shaping your destiny by your own hands, as the way you will it. As the way you want it. When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you. Why are we in this never ending race to compete and compare? Does it really give you happiness? We all know the answers just like that samurai warrior, we just don’t care to see it and believe it. How do you expect the world to believe in you when you do not believe in yourself? Think new, achieve new heights, do something different, so that even if you fail, you can look yourself into the mirror and say, yes I tried to be different.

The first man to compare the cheeks of a young woman to a rose was obviously a poet; the first to repeat it was possibly an idiot. DO NOT BE AN IDIOT. I know the potential of mankind. The best and worst of it. Poverty, inequality, wars, communal violence everything will be eradicated in seconds the day we collectively stop comparing out insides to someone else’s outsides.

-Tushar Sharma

Confession of an egocentric maniac....

Today I am writing again after a very long time. More than I care to remember. As I said the last time, I write when I feel like writing, when I am happy, excited or enthusiastic about anything. But today it’s a little different. I am neither happy nor excited and definitely not enthusiastic, but I still chose to write, because there are another emotions and feelings which are much stronger. Stronger than Love, Happiness and even anger......For today I feel sad. But please don’t read this post if you want to sympathize or make fun. I just want to pen down how I feel, because it’s a very strange and disturbing feeling. But yet there is something I feel that is pushing me to express, I guess one should express not only love and anger but heart tearing sadness as well. Here I am pouring my heart out in this senseless post. I want to warn you that you will not be able to make out head and tail of this post, but I on the other hand can understand it, feel it and deal with it......eventually... well I hope. How does it feel to lose the most important people in your life one by one in a matter of a year? It doesn’t matter whose mistake it was. What matters is that those people are not there in your life any more. Maybe, because of yourself or somebody else to that matter. In both the cases, you end up losing someone special and important, and the pain is so much after that, it cannot be measured or expressed. Yes I screwed up. God knows big time. Lost friends, well wishers and family members and loved ones. And now I am losing the person I love the most. A violent end to something so beautiful and pure, so innocent and mesmerizing, I always thought it’s too good to be true. Guess my this feeling came in between, that I have casted an evil eye on this heavenly companionship. The worst part is that I can’t really do much about it. The helplessness makes it even worse and painful. I had the power to rectify everything, rather power not to let this feeling spoil and this situation to occur in first place, but my desperate attempt to protect it has only led to misery, to me and my loved ones. Is there any way to repent, which is not so painful and saddening? I guess not. What you reap is what you sow..... Never really understood the meaning of this line before today. What a painful way to gain realization. One sole action sends down ripples of consequences in the sea of life, wave after wave hitting against the heart soon to be turned into a rock, a lonely rock at the shore of loneliness and despair, guilt and burden. Burden of losing everything because of that one sole action, which could have been easily avoided, had I been not so drunk and blind by my own ego and insecurities. Yes it is my fault, that I am like this, I was always like this, but never really understood the ripples, the consequences before today. But is this really the end of Tushar as you know it, more importantly the end of me as I know myself? I don’t have the answer to this question right now, but today for the first time I look up at the sky and plead to more powerful source to help me and give me strength. To forgive, myself and to give strength to my loved ones to forgive me for all the pain I have caused and all the tears I have let so easily flow...... Will it be over? Ever? I have hope. Very small fire of hope still burning in my heart, fighting against the wind of pain and guilt. Will it survive the sorrow? Only my loved one can answer. And I will wait. Till eternity........ For I Love You!! And I apologize.

Polarity

Some times, just sometimes it so happens that our mind, soul and our heart are aligned in perfect unison in order to create something magical, something worthwhile.

Today it seems, after a very very long time, is one such day. I know my last post was penned down by me a long time back which seems a different life time together however I have my own reasons for that.
For one I don’t have fans, second I don’t believe in followers so I write for myself and I write when the alignment of my heart, mind and soul is perfect…….

It so happens that whenever I talk to one of my very good friend, (Yes Sulabh Gulati am talking about you only), I experience this unquenchable thirst to understand and appreciate the complicated human nature and behavioral patterns.
The question is what is that one major driving force in humans that influence our decisions on day to day bases? The same thing which creates curiosity to go ahead and do something new, and a feeling working secretively at the backend scaring us of the uncertain and new.
When one part of the brain says LETS DO IT, and other part screams out loud right at the critical juncture, WHAT IF?????

I don’t know about you but I face this issue a slot. Where my spirit and will says LETS DO IT and my Heart and Mind chicken out saying WHAT IF?

Folks after zillions of mistakes and hours of sessions with my supportive friends and family I have come to a conclusion that broadly every human possess two characters in himself. Surprisingly contradicting they are however that what completes the balance. I call it POLARITY.

Every religion says that if there is evil, there is good as well, that after dark it will always be light, that there is life after death and death after life, surprisingly contrasting but stark opposite always work in pairs, and will always do. That’s how the universe has been created by the great designer. That’s how our decisions and thoughts shape.

God, as I always say, whosoever he is, created us in his own image. Mental Image, not the physical form. And gave us the most powerful weapon of human spirit. The fire burning inside each of us to achieve, to succeed and to survive against all odds, But as I mentioned everything works in a pair. So does this great weapon. Imagine the destructive results it will have if every human learned to harness this weapon. Everything will be out of balance, that is why I understand there is polarity associated with it as well. But what can be that one thing that can challenge the human spirit? The answer is clear to see. Its our own doubts our own apprehensions.

That’s why he created FEAR. Fear of everything new and uncertain. We can go and achieve anything we want.
CAN everybody do it?? YES! But WILL everyone DO IT?? No!!
That’s what I call as POLARITY.
Some of the homo sapiens learned to harness the true potential of the human spirit, like Leonardo Da Vinci, M.K Gandhi, Alexender the great. Ashoka Maurya, and the list goes on and on and hence they were called as GREATS. What new did they do? Were they magical beings? Or God was extra kind to them or lady luck was in love with these beings?? (Well if that’s the case then I would have been the luckiest man alive in the dimension :p )

Well what I believe is that they were able to master the skill to control and fight fear and were able to boost its twin brother that is HUMAN SPIRIT.


POLARITY is the reason the world goes round, quiet literally, and polarity is the reason that we fail or succeed in our endeavors.
It all depends on us. If we want Fear to take over then we will always keep on quivering under pain, pressure and failures. And if we control fear and harness our spirit then we also can join the league of greats.

I KNOW I WANT TO…. ARE YOU WITH ME????

(Think about it, until I write again)

Life...... is just a day!!!!

During the morning
at the end of the night
everything & everybody is in my sight
the sun of my life is burning bright

During the noon
at the end of the morning
i like to play i like to sing
the birds are flying spreading their wings
its my engagemenmt & am wearing a ring

During the evening
at the end of the noon
in the the large blue sky
the sun feels shy
why do i wnat to cry
when i realise that world's gonna fry!!

During the night at the end of th evening
I am very happy to see my grandchild play
everything is calm, everything is gay
very soon in the night i'll die & i'll
sing this SONG in the sky...
DURING THE MORNING AT THE END OF THE NIGHT...........




I wrote this poem in 9 standard, thus its a not very literraly amazing, but it comes from the heart & shows that life is just like a beautiful day. Like morning is the start of the day, birth is like the morning of life, teenage is just like afternoon where everything is fiery & bight, where evening is the time to slow down, middleage is the time to enjoy the established carrier, and night is the time which shows the the end of the day is inevitable. So is the old age, it signifies the end of life but not for always because AFTER EVERY NIGHt MORNING ALWAYS ALWAYS COME!!!!!
Enjoy every day of your life, because it is the life!!