Journey

Most of us want to reach an end, we want to be able to say “I have arrived at self-knowledge and I am happy”; but it is not like that at all.  If you can look at yourself without condemning what you see, without comparing yourself with somebody else, without wishing to be more beautiful or more virtuous; if you can just observe what you are and move with it, then you will find that it is possible to go infinitely far.  Then there is no end to the journey, and that is the mystery, the beauty of it.

- Jiddu Krishnamurti

Habs

“Simple shifts in perspective and consciousness, when done collectively creates miracles”

Summer 2010.

A family trip to my brother’s place in Minnesota, laidback times with love in DC, a trip to Stockholm and Copenhagen with some of my favorite girls, family time in Nepal for a week, and finally where I am now, the Tuck Business Bridge program at Dartmouth. It has been one of the best summers, with amazing conversations, memories, experiences.

But I have never felt so alive like I do here in Dartmouth. I did not expect to have some of the most crucial realizations about myself in this small town in Hanover, during an intense business program. In spite of the fact that there are a lot of things here which are less than ideal, I am extremely grateful for this.

I try and not let the crazy schedule stress me out and don’t put too much pressure on myself, about studies, friends, etc. I’m here for a month, if I make good friends, it’s good, if I don’t, it’s just a month. I’ve been working hard at what really interests me, and the pressure to perform isn’t there; we are not graded on these courses, nor do we receive credit. We have classes 7 hours a day, listen to lectures even during lunch, and have group work after that. It’s a tightly packed program taught by MBA faculty, with a lot of information thrown at us, most of which is a totally new language for me (since I’ve never taken any classes on corporate finance, accounting and such). I see it as a buffet where I’m taking in the most of what is best for me.

I’ve spent a lot of time with myself in Dartmouth, and love it. Until now, I’ve either roomed with someone, and when I had a single, my closest friends lived down the hall, so I was mostly with them. I loved those times as well, but also glad that I got this time for myself now.

There were a lot of things I needed to deal head on, but was pushing away, and in the process of reaching out to all these nittygritties, I reached out to myself. Last night, I sat by the fountain near Hanover Inn, watching the water glisten under the light, listening to the water, eating my tuna melt, questioning myself. After finishing my tuna melt, I got up to leave, but immediately came back and sat down. I had to think about the next steps of The Creative Studio, something concrete, practical, sustainable. And like a spark it unraveled. If I was at Dreamcatchers, that would be my “aha moment” part of discovering my diamond. I love the Dreamcatchers way of speaking, thinking, just about everything about the Dreamcatchers way. I combed through every fine detail of thought, either pushed it aside, prodded on with it, or put it on a list of maybes (this last list was long!)

In addition to the classes, I’ve learn the essence of teamwork from my 4 group members. Each one’s such a character. It’s all about being able to take on different roles within the group, as a leader, learner, stepping back at times, etc. After exploring more about management/strategic consulting and some aspects of finance, I’ve realized that this is what I want to do after graduating. It’s still broad, but it’s a start. More than career goals, my 3 weeks in Dartmouth has really opened me up.

(Also, I am not always this inspired; I just feel the need to write when I am in this mode. I’ll try to write more, even when I’m not.)

Hanover, New Hampshire

The Decisive Moment

The Decisive Moment by Henri Cartier Bresson.

awhile ago.. now dejavu

Truth of Cinema

An amazing video The Third & The Seventh (Alex Roman).

This video is computer generated- how cinema deceives us.

Spark of inspiration

The reading on Don Lenzer’s views on vérité docuemntary today opened a whole new window for me today. Tremendously inspiring. Haven’t been so inspired and excited for awhile now.

It just is …. good

She didn’t make me miserable,
or anxious, or ill at east. You know,
it sounds boring, but it wasn’t.
It wasn’t spectacular either.
It was just good. But really good.

~John Cusack, High Fidelity

Sometimes you don’t need the nuances or the exclamations, it simply is.

विजया दशमीको हार्दिक मङ्गलमय शुभकामना!

Happy Dashain!

I just skyped with my family in Kathmandu while they were having the tika ceremony of Dashain. Dashain is the most important festival in Nepal -a time of family gatherings, receiving blessings (and money:)) from elders, playing cards, drinking, eating.. flowers, laughter …..

“It is not an easy thing to do, to live by reason alone, and in every culture there are mysterious regions that are beyond reason. Relics of the past, perhaps not always explicable, but precious to the people who possess them. All rituals are mysterious. To do away with them is to strip people of their identity (and identity is precious) along with their ritual… I have no faith but I have a feeling for ritual. I feel it leads me to the old world. It gives me a past.” – VS Naipaul

All this, but with full faith.

fleeting unexpected nostalgia

vastness and courage

melapasai, madurai, tamil nadu, india. june 2009