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Impractical Dreamer

~ Dr Sweety Shinde: As a butterfly flits; so does the mind waltz in innumerable flights. Mine hovers over books, spirituality ,humor and random gems from everyday life.

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Tag Archives: Gratitude

‘Driving’ force behind me – my brother.

01 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in Random Musings

≈ 39 Comments

Tags

bicycle, cycling, fall, Gratitude, happy hours, HDFC Life, Indiblogger, inspiration, learn, patience, student, teacher

IMG_2278 - Copy Yay, won a Flipkart Voucher for this post!!!

In my formative teen years, I was told cycling adds inches in the right place. Vertically, I mean.

I heroically asked my Dad to teach me. It is said, ‘A teacher should never be short tempered; nor should a student be shy.’ Well, Papa and I made up two equal and opposite halves of that saying. Needless to say, the plan soon aborted and gave way to a pregnant pause! And that’s when my brother stepped in. try He was more determined than me, more sure of my success and a million times more patient.  His exact attitude was :patience

We chose the wide, uncrowded pathway near our house for practice sessions. Post school and pre dinner. Did he have friends waiting? Yes.

Did he have better plans pending? Yes.

Did he have his own teenager problems looming over him? Yes.

Did he expect a medal in return? No. Money? No.

Surely he had more important personal matters to attend than to spend time soothing my nerves and getting my irritated verbal whiplashes in return! Yet there he was, hour after patient hour jogging behind me with constant instructions and a steady hand to  propel me up.

Meanwhile, I always performed better when I was allowed to say, patience 1 As I graduated from half pedal to full pedal, one fine day I saw him jogging beside me rather than behind me, with a wide grin. He waved to me. Hey! he was supposed to hold onto me! That’s when it dawned that I was on my own and still soaring ahead. Oh! The surge of confidence, the joy of mastering fear, the pleasure of acquiring a new skill.

Truly, the best quality of a skill is that nobody can take it away again. But learning to cycle was not the end of learning. The next lesson was harder. Taking the fall! It had to happen sometime – and it did. Fortunately for me, I fell in good company!

Taking a sharp hairpin bend, I swerved and twisted the handle at an impossible angle. I felt the stunned surprise that the ground should rise up to meet me. Then the the pain shot up my shin and ground reality woke me up. I saw the long oblong of grazed skin peeling off, felt tears smarting my eyes. I waited for my brother to hover me anxiously. My brother stood a carefully careful distance away. He didn’t run up nor did he wipe away my tears. He asked steadily, ‘Are you OK? See  if the bicycle is damaged anywhere.’ As it is, my pride was hurt more than I was.

In retrospect, I think it was the perfect response. A shade more paternal and I would have burst into tears. A shade less concerned and I would have been put off forever by the fear of falling.

Here’s a look-back note of gratitude for him. For having the time to invest in me, for being confident in me, for teaching me a lifetime skill and most importantly, for teaching me how to teach! I hope I am that teacher for some student someday.  Here are some awesome cycling quotes: bicycle1 bicycle2   bicycle4 bicycle5

This blog is part of http://www.hdfclife.com/ Apno Ko Apne Dum Pe Jeena Sikhao ‘Happy Hours’ by Indieblogger.

First look, Last farewell

12 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in Random Musings, Spirituality

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

first date, first job, first love, Gratitude, happiness, joy, last farewell

What a lovely Life it would be; If…

We remained as sinless as on the first day of life

We remained as fresh as after the first bath of the day

We cared to remain as interesting and impressive as on the first date first meeting

We remained as enthusiastic as on the first day of work first job

We remained as enamored as on the first discovery of love

We cherished a gift as much as when we first unwrapped it

we felt as gratified as on beholding the first pay slip

We never got accustomed to the magic of sunrises and sunsets

The whole rainy season smelt as divine as first rains

We valued Independence as much as when our country won it

We discovered acquaintances with as little prejudice as when we first met

We bid goodbye to friends and family as if it is the last time last goodbye

As James Dean said,

james dean quote

Shoot off your opinion. If practice makes perfect; then why does repetition take away joy? Why should familiarity breed contempt? Why should companionship produce boredom?

God’s Jigsaw Puzzle

09 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by dr sweetyshinde in Spirituality

≈ 61 Comments

Tags

Atheism, blessing., faith, God, Gratitude, Jigsaw, Life, miracle, Mom, Mumbai bomb blasts, Savior, spirituality

Circa 1993 . H.S.C exams. Biology, my favorite paper. Every answer on my fingertip; and from there fluidly onto the answer paper. The giddy bubbly feeling when everything is sailing smooth. Life is perfect!

My answers fill Main plus 3 extra sheets. I crosscheck my roll number and hand over the paper bang on time. I stroll out with a silly smug smile hovering over my lips.  As I collect my bag, Disaster strikes! I have forgotten Continue reading →

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