Qutub Minar through my camera

Qutub Minar and Iron Pillar at Mehrauli, New Delhi photo by Seema Kumar

When you have guests who come as tourists, that is the time you get to get out and visit some such tourist places and historical monuments like Qutub Minar, Delhi, which otherwise remain just a view from the outside while you pass by. Qutab Minar, the 239 feet sandstone tower, the highest stone tower in India, is an Indo-Islamic architectural wonder of ancient India.

The Iron Pillar that has has withstood corrosion for the last 1600 years, despite harsh weather is another monument in the same premises.

When you actually go inside the premises and have a closer look, it certainly gives a different look and feel than viewing from outside or just in photographs. You can actually sense and feel history when you are in such kind of a historical place... the buildings, shapes, architectures, carvings, etc., everything has a silent story to tell... even if you don't visit with a tourist guide. Although a tourist guide can make you see many things that may remain noontices or not undestood if you are on your own.

These are just some of the photograps that I took this weekend while visiting Qutub Minar.

Today my table calendar reads:

You are a wise man today if you have learned from yesterday's blunders.

Does this indicate something ? Is this time to sit, look back and introspect and meditate a little, before moving ahead ? A need to spend some time looking within ? After all, isn't it said that the best guide and friend one can have is one's own inner self ?

This poem that got published today also has many questions.. some are too big questions I guess. But before that, there are many things, answers for many small questions that needs finding out. Maybe a little introspection for some time can help.

Construction and Creation

An interesting quotation that I read today:

"The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists."

Each Moment is a Wonder

Standing by the water,
I tried to count the countelss ripples
Caused in the silent water
Just by a pebble's throw
Or even by a gentle touch.

I strived to measure
The endless waves
That kept moving towards me
And then receding
Somewhere far away..

I yearned to embrace
The faceless wind
When it effortlessly touched me
And blew my raven hair
As it moved away from me.

The sand of time
Slipped away from my tight fists
And I watched the sand particles
Scatter and spread smoothly
Grain by grain, on the floor below.

As I enjoyed the flowers in the garden
I could see that the flowers' soft petals
Shall only last for a day
And their sweet fragrance reminded
"Enjoy me, before I fade".

They all kept repeating to me
Live, love, evolve, enjoy and cherish
Each little moment that you have,
Every flake of time that floats past,
As each moment is a wonder in itself.

- Seema Kumar
19th June, 2007

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Update July 6, 2021

In Dec 2020, I also updated this poetry Each Moment is a Wonder on YouTube.

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Lalyog - Specialised Yoga School for busy corporate guys & Ladies/ Children

As a young student, when I saw my brother Ashish suffering from Osteo Arthritis and 24/7 of excruciating pain, it was really sad. He was so young and doctors told him he will not be able to lift heavy weights, or do tough excercises. There seemed to be no cure. He did not accept it .. did not agree to what the doctors told him. It was not in him to give up without fighting. Even as a young student at IIT, Delhi, he went for Yoga classes, meditation and made sure not a single day was missed out. His dicsipline was admirable and so was his enthusiam. And today noone can say he ever had Osteo Arthritis.

It was late night and he was still not sleeping, was sitting upright and unable to even lie down. Was not well and was not able to breathe properly. We consulted doctors. They suggested inhalers. It was some form of Asthma. He did take inhalers, but no, that was not what he was going to do all his life like the doctors suggested. How can he live like a patient all his life? He fought again.. and won. He does not need inhalers any more !

He and his wife are both trained at different places for Yoga and meditation and they practise regularly with discipline. I have often wished that I had the same discipline towards Yoga and excercise. Even though I myself have learned Yoga, like all busy corporate people, even I have the excuse ... where is the time for all this.. at least not for daily practise !

We all are at least aware about the benifits of Yoga and regular excercise. So it was good to know that Ashish and Sarika have started Lalyog - Specialised Yoga School for busy corporate guys & Ladies/ Children.

This is what they have to say about it:

"Many corporate/ other busy people since several years have been expressing their eagerness to learn Yoga but couldn't do so due to lack of time because all courses elsewhere are of about a week at least. Capsule Course at Lalyog is a 4.5 hrs (it's a one day 4.5 hrs course) complete course covering important Pranayamas, Aasanas, Bandh, Mudra and Meditation and will suit busy men and women. Owing to more than 7 years experience in this field, we can assure that there is no such course available anywhere else in India! We both would be the trainers for this unique course."

"There is a specialised course named Weekly Course which is only for Ladies and Children (less than 10years) which will extend for 5days in a week. Sarika would be the trainer for this specialised course."

If you want to do the course in near future, you can contact on the numbers given at the end of this post. Given below is a brief about 'Lalyog' as given by Ashish:

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Lalyog : gateway to a sound physical, mental & spiritual health

YOGA:
Yoga is our yog i.e. union with our soul! Does this statement excite you? Union with our soul is possible only after attaining a sound physical, mental and spiritual health. Hence, whether you want to be physically & mentally fit or you want to move up the spiritual ladder in your life, you ought to get excited because you’re at the right place – Lalyog!

SPECIALITY:
At Lalyog, we have two types of courses each having detailed teaching of important Aasanas, Pranayamas, Bandh, Mudra and Meditation – without all these five elements, learning of Yoga is incomplete which is exactly the case with most courses elsewhere.

COURSES:
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Course: Capsule Courses (Two per week of 4.5 hrs each)
Days & Timing: Saturday & Sunday: 7.30am – 12noon
For Whom: For busy males & females who have lack of time

Speciality:
· No such course available anywhere else
· Personalized training – only about 5 people in a batch
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Course: Weekly Course
Days & Timing: Monday – Friday, 10.30am - 11.30am
For Whom: Only for Ladies and Children (below 10yrs)
· Specialized course for Ladies & Children by a Lady Trainer
· Personalized training – only about 5 people in a batch

Speciality
Anybody can choose either the course on Saturday or Sunday; however, only ladies and children (below 10years) can do the Weekly Course. The courses would be conducted in South Delhi.
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TRAINERS:
The trainers are Ashish Lal (B.Tech. from IIT Delhi) and Sarika Lal (M.Sc. in Life Sciences) and have more than 7 years of experience in all the 5 elements of Yoga. They have been trained from the Yogis of most prestigious Yoga University in India – Bihar School of Yoga as well as from other prestigious organizations viz. Art of Living, Vihangama Yoga Sansthana and Vipassana Meditation. They’ve cured themselves of incurable diseases like Osteo Arthritis (endured 3 years 24/7 of excruciating pain) and Asthma (took inhalers twice daily for several months) after being confirmed incurable from AIIMS and Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, New Delhi!

POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF YOGA:
Stress release - mental and physical, very essential in this modern world.
Prevents/ cures/ reduces the suffering associated with problems like – Arthritis, Asthma, Obesity, Depression, B.P. (high/ low), Diabetes, Gastric disorders, Cardio-vascular problems etc. Surprisingly, the benefits are infinite because Yoga works on each and every used/ unused cell of your body!
Develops positive attitude towards goals of life via physical, mental and spiritual growth.

CONTACT FOR FURTHER DETAILS:
Mobile – 9811800120, 9213753803 & 9213196487
Landline – 011-40560820
Email – ashishlal_iitd@yahoo.com

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The Little Artist

Art on the wall ... the big canvas !

Enganed with colours :)

See.. I painted this ;)

More Photos of Rishikesh and Haridwar Trip

Rainbow, Rishikesh, 13th August '06

Ganges Water, 13th August '06

Sunrise, Rishikesh, 14th August '06

Thirsty Dog, Rishikesh, 14th August '06

Haridwar, 14th August, '06

These are some more photos from our Rishikesh and Haridwar Trip taken by me.

Questions about life

Summer is here. The sun keeps increasing its heat day by day and people start staying indoors most of the time during the day. I often think, does the thought process get effected by the season or the climatic conditions ?

There is a strange kind of restlessness. Does everyone feels the same or is it just me ? Is it because of the season, the weather, or just an introspective nature ? I have always felt life is too short and there are so many things that need time and attention and the unfulfilled ambitions need to be fulfilled, so many other things that I would like to do.

At one time, I had almost rebelled and went to study Drawing and Painting, after being a science student, and enjoyed it. It is almost nine years now that we had our independent group exhibition of our 'Pancham Group' and the members of the group went different ways to pursue different opportunities in life. I went on to pursue my professional course at NIFT and the related careers after that.

Few years of job and the restlessness bagan. Is this what I want from life ? Do I only need to have a full time job and trying to make ends meet, trying to find time for family and no time for things that I have always wanted to do ? What happened to art, to poetry, to thoughts about doing something for social development and lots of other things ? What happened to the girl who wrote THIS ... will it happen with the efforts that I am making towards it... or am I even on the right track ? Is life a cycle ?

Do we have answers to everything in life or is time the only answer ?

Thought of the day

"Even if all you can do is crawl across the floor, it's better than just sitting there doing nothing."

Photo by Seema Kumar

Cricket Fever ??

My brother's marriage

Another family occasion, another time to celebrate. My younger brother is getting married on 8th March and am leaving to attend the ceremony. Hope to have a good family time :)

Don't Quit Poem by anonymous - A favorite poem

Today I came across one of my favorite poems Don't Quit by an anonymous poet. It has been one of the most inspiring poems since my school days:

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must; but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

- by anonymous

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Photograph of 'Haveli' - in India Today travel PLUS in their SPECIAL 11TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JAN 2007

After Diwali I had posted the pics of A 'Punjabi Dhaba' - Haveli on my blog and on flickr. From flickr, it was picked up for India Today travel PLUS in their SPECIAL 11TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE JAN 2007. It has been published under 'EAT' section of Punjab (pg. 94).

The Entrance of Haveli.

The haveli Courtyard with traditional Dhaba style open air eating.

I had taken this photo on our drive back from Ludhiana to Delhi, after the office Diwali Party, where we had stopped for Lunch. I had heard about it and thought of giving it a try and it was good. Here again are some photos of Haveli.

Today I got a complementary copy of this special issue of India Today travel PLUS. Seemed to be a gift.. specially on my marriage anniversary day :)

Ansal Plaza at South Delhi

This is Ansal Plaza, one of the earliest shopping malls in South Delhi.
There was a time when we used to visit Ansal Plaza mainly to go to Shopper's Stop or McDonald's or window shopping.
I went there after a long time in the first week of Dec'06 where I took these photos. It was working day and not much crowded. There are so many shopping malls now all around, but when you go somehwere after a long time, you have a different type of fascination .. and that is what made me take these photographs.

All photos by - Seema Kumar, 6th Dec.'06

Tejal Kriti's 2nd Birthday.. on Republic Day

26th January is India's Republic day, something we all Indians celebrate.

I now also have another reason to celebrate this day. It is also my daughter, Tejal Kriti's birthday. Yesterday was her 2nd birthday.

No, I am not going to write another post about Child Birth like last year. Nor just post her photo and wish her because she was away from me. This year, we celebrated her birthday and she was with us.

Tejal is now two years old. The pain of Child Birth has long been replaced by lots of good things and sweet memories of seeing her grow up, listening to her speaking, her effort to learn and talk about new things, etc.

Now the concerns are about things like how she is taken care of when I am away to work, what she eats, her health, what should she be learning, her games, her toys, etc. etc.

Time flies !! When I look back, it is really hard to believe that she is already two years old !

One year of blogging... one year of 'Seema's Corner'

Today marks one year of blogging and one year of ‘Seema’s Corner’.

Some random web-browsing, office and personal e-mails, or for some specific search, chat sometimes... that was what I mostly used the internet for. A year ago, I did not have the faintest idea what a whole new world would be opened for me through blogging. Exactly one year today when I had finally started a blog, although with no specific purpose, or topic in mind to write about. Probably just because I liked the concept of blogging. It was a place where you could publicly share your ideas, views, etc… although I was not even sure if anyone would be reading what I would write, but just for the pleasure of writing.

And why Blogger ? Just because the name seemed to be that for a Blog site!!

One year ago I Googled for Design schools in Gurgaon and I came across this post from Ashish Kumar of Tekriti Software. ‘Tekriti’ seemed to be the short form of my daughter’s name ‘Tejal Kriti’, and Ashish’s World caught my attention first of all because of that. The blog posts were interesting and inspiring and it became a major inspiration towards starting my own blog. Gaurav’s blog was another inspiring one.

When I wrote my first post, it was about my little daughter who was less than a year old at that time and away from me. Quite a few of my initial posts were inspired by motherhood.

And another thing that fascinated me was Hindi Blogging. I had been wondering for a long time about the ways of how to write in Hindi on computer. I not only got some answers, but also stated my Hindi Blog, initially with the idea of sharing some of my hindi poetry written over the years. I came across lots of interesting events and people through that.

Anoop Bhargava ji’s invitation (through my Hindi Blog) to join ekavita was simply a wonderful experience as it not only brought me closer to eminent Hindi poets and contemporary Hindi poetry, it brought me in touch with many people. Knowing Anoop Bhargava ji itself is a wonderful experience and when he came to India to receive this award, I got to meet him as well as some other poets and members of ekavita group. This meeting in Gurgaon brought many people together and although I could only attend for a short while, it is a memorable occasion for me.

Special thanks to Ravi Kamdar through whose blog I not only came to know about Hindi writing, about Hindini, but also about Narad. He was a great help in setting up my blogs and specially gave online guidance while creating my Hindi Blog. Anoop Bhargava ji’s online guidance was also a great help in learning about Baraha.

I came across many people through my blog. With some it was temporary interaction, comments and feedback, some became good friends and acquaintances. One year of blogging has given me more friends and meaningful contacts than I could have even imagined when I started this blog. I can go on and on and on about the last one year. But now I would only say that I look forward to another year of blogging, with more new things to learn and more people to know.

Photos of Nainital trip

I had mentioned in my post about Nainital trip that I will be posting some pictures of the trip soon. I have uploaded today finally the pictures of Nainital Trip on Flickr. Enjoy the natural beauty :-)

The lake view from the ropeway, originally uploaded by Seema Kumar.

Foggy 'New Year 2007' in Delhi and NCR

View through the tinted glass of my office on the afternoon on 1st Jan'07

Welcome 2007 !

The new year came with a foggy night and foggy morning on New year in Delhi and NCR. The fog was so thick that it felt as if it was still early morning or late evening. At such time one feels like staying indoors in the warmth of one's home. But we had to come to office, and we had the New Year snacks at office.

Is that the Sun or the Moon ? Photo of 1st Jan '07 afternoon at about 3:45 pm, Gurgaon.

The sun was not visible. When I went out in the afternoon, it was visible for a short duration and that, too, it looked like the moon and not the sun. Here are some more photos on Flickr, taken by me on 1st Jan.'07, of the fog.

Foggy afternoon at Gurgaon, 1st Jan'07

The buildings next of our office building, which are very clearly visible on normal days, were barely visible though the thick fog today. So the New Year started for me with work.. and fog. Should I interpret it that beyond the fog, there are bright and sunny day waiting to unfold in the days to come :) ?

So, another year has gone by and a new year has come - with new hope and expectations, and with the unknown. I have been greeting people on the new year with the following wish (adopted) which I liked and the same I do to all of you out there .. and for myself, too.

"All that you dreamed but didn’t dare to do,
All that you hoped but did not will,
All the faith that you claimed but did not have,
May you have all these in the coming year. "

Christmas Weekend at Nainital

Lake at Nainital on the morning of 25th Dec.'06

It was Christmas weekend and still we did not have any holiday at office except on Sunday, which was a weekly off. Yet, decided to take leave and go for an outing. We drove to Nainital - including me there were five adults and two kids. It was a long long drive but as it was last minute planning, no train tickets were available.

First day was quite pleasant and sunny at Nainital. Second day was cold and chilling but we enjoyed the cold, too. The hotel where we stayed had a nice scenic view of the lake. Soon, I will be uploading some photos of the trip. Have been quite occupied with lots of things to blog, and I won't call this post a proper one !

In the meanwhile, I read a quotation and really liked it :

"Every time something good happens to you, make something good happen to someone else."

My Hindi Poems on 'Kritya' - A Journal of Poetry

This post is for Hindi readers and I have also written on my Hindi blog.

The December issue of Kritya - a journal of poetry, has published a collection of nine of my Hindi poems in their 'Samkaleen Kavita' (contemporary poetry) section. Rest of the poems are on this page.

Hindi Poems by Seema Kumar published in Kritya, a journal of poetry

These poems are from a collection of my poems written over the years... right from school and college days and not just all recent ones. The frequency of my poetry writing had reduced a lot with job and hectic city life. But this comes as a motivation to continue writing :-)

I am awaiting comments on the published poems.