Posted on by Nishtha Gehija

Open, by Andre Agassi

Sometimes I find myself walking to my bookshelf, pick up Andre Agassi’s memoir Open, and look at this back cover pic of Agassi.

The kid is quite confused.
The kid hated tennis.
The grown-up Agassi hated tennis.

But with the weight of that racquet too much to handle, he managed it for one of the greatest careers in history.

And perhaps even found himself in the process.

This kid gives me power, strength, and often vulnerability, to not resist what’s coming.

In what lies unseen, you will see yourself.
In what you don’t know, you will know more.
In what you hate, you will end up loving yourself.

Posted on by Nishtha Gehija

Stories on the street

Each morning as I walk or drive for around ten minutes to go to my meditation class, there are countless stories to witness on the street.

Here’s the two I witnessed today:

  1. A man was standing with his cart containing buckets of pickles. That is what he would be selling whole day, to make a living. Here he was, standing in a corner, serving pickle in a small bag. He then called out to the trash collector to come, so he could have his breakfast.
    Such beautiful thing. Most of us don’t do philanthropy because we feel we ourselves don’t have enough. But it is only in giving, that we receive the most. You do not have to empty your bank accounts. A small act of care each day, is more than enough. If someone who makes his living selling pickles can do it, what excuse do you and I have?
  2. Another woman was brooming the road, with the broom taylor made for thick surfaces. It is unlike the one that we use in our homes. It’s streaks are thicker, which makes it easier to remove dust from there.
    As this woman was brooming the road, I noticed a strange thing: that I could not observe dust on the road. Yet, as she broomed, the dust became prominent in every movement.
    That was a beautiful lesson: around how the deepest things are not visible. It is only through tough scratching that they surface. So are the things in our lives. Our deepest pains are buried behind us cracking jokes, being on time, being addicted to work, etc. Only when a deeper pain comes that it brings all that is within – to the forefront.
    A wonderful reminder of how we pain brings the best in us.

That said, there is a third story as well – story of you and I – walking on the roads, streets, malls, etc.
We get the stories that we see. And we become them.

The question is: What do we see?

Posted on by Nishtha Gehija

When I lost a high-paying client

Two months back, I had lost a high-paying client.
Though there was a good lot of other work from other clients as well, this loss did affect me – at least emotionally.

So one morning at around 8:45 am, I was sitting in my room and pondering, when I saw my father. He was being his normal self, making the wick for the diya, and lighting it up with ease and gratitude.

And that moment – in a moment of nothingness, something happened.
I don’t know what, but something just hit me!

Read the entire story here.

Posted on by Nishtha Gehija

The most fascinating thing about life

Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed by what the world has caused you?

It’s like nothing is working out, and you have struggles to solve.

And you go about your work.

Then,
all of a sudden,
in a movement of ether,
you have a conversation
with a co-worker or anyone who doesn’t know about your current mood,
and bam! You are all set!

You are back to your energy, your charisma and back to rocket-speed.

That’s the most fascinating thing about life.

The question is,

“If someone else could do that to us, will we always wait for others?”

Posted on by Nishtha Gehija

About what you are doing

Instagram stories shows the world what you are doing.

The only problem being: no one really gets happy on seeing the fact that you are doing great, and they aren’t!

The point then, is to have a life that others would want to draw inspiration and action from, instead of just allowing them to tap tap tap and criticise you and go away.

It’s a difficult process – to go away from what the world likes towards what they really really want.

The only easy process is eating mindlessly. Everything else takes efforts.

Posted on by Nishtha Gehija

Remember the postcard?

Every single day we have, we say more than what we speak.

Most people believe people judge them by what they speak. Speaking doesn’t generate trust. It’s just a validation of who you are.

What you don’t say and do it, decides what people will think of you.

Who you are inside, people will always know about it. Never an exception.

What you are speaks so loudly to me that I can barely hear what you say.

Anonymous

The question, then, is not “how do I make myself liked by them?”

The question is “how do I be the same inside and outside?”

Like a postcard. Not an envelope.