Life Experiences by Tilak

I recently travelled to Pushkar from Delhi NCR and the trip cost me less than INR 5000. I booked AC bus the cost was around INR 3000 for the to and fro. Stayed at @zostel Pushkar got a competitive last minute discounted rate of INR 1200 for two nights. Travelled around mostly on foot. Clocking around 15000 steps daily.  Eating street food - Poha, Dal Pakwan and Lassi costs around INR200 per meal.  The beauty of sitting at Varah ghat and watching the evening aarti is priceless😊

I have grown up in Mumbai. The mornings felt terrible. Just waking up and ensuring that I'm able to get in the right local. Weekends were all about catching up on pending sleep. Then I moved to Delhi NCR about two decades ago. Life was slower, easier to commute to office in my own car. Life seems good. Here I developed a habit of going for morning walks. There are some very good public spaces where one can spend quality time with nature in the heart of a crowded Delhi life. I have grown fond of this life. The slow mornings tend to be the way I want to live my life. I'm tired of trying to impress people. I don't.  I'm living a tranquil life. And enjoying it. Sharing a glimpse from my today's morning walk where I could see the national bird. So blessed to see it today😊

A few years back, when I walked in a Decathlon store in Delhi NCR. I was mesmerized.  The brand really stood for its slogan of all for sports and sports for all. The encouraged sports and made sports fun. After them many brands joined the process and eventually created a space where fitness and healthy living was celebrated - even if only as a marketing tool. It helped bringing a positive change.  Today I find elderly couples wearing sneakers and strolling in parks for a morning walk. I find youngsters and office goers getting together for a friendly cricket, football or even basketball game. I see gyming becoming a culture over the last few years. Today, while participating in a marathon, I noticed something for the first time - I saw parents and grand parents are bringing children to marathons and inculcating the habit of walking/ running from an early age. These children will grow up with fitness as an integral part of their lives.  They will embrace fitness as a lifel...

I miss the good old days. Sundays used to be special as that was the day when dad personally went to the butchers shop and got mutton for the house.  Sundays were synonymous with Mutton curry and rice.  Some Sundays, whichbwere around birthdays in the family, we all gathered at my Aunty's place.  The celebrations were almost always potluck dinner.  We had songs and dances with someone singing, someone playing the guitar, someone whistling ....we had so much fun with so little. Ordering food from outside was almost non existent. Something changed and today all I see are food ordered from outside with Netflix playing in the backdrop and one or two friends drinking together. I miss the good old days. They were so special. 😊

Freedom looks very different at 40 than at 20. At 20, freedom is to parties, to go pub hopping, to socialise till you drop, eating out at expensive restaurants etc etc.... At 40, I'm beginning to realise freedom is to be able to have slow mornings, nature walks, netflix binge at home or picking up a good book with home cooked delicacies. Sounds like a cliche but that seems like the only fact. But I guess you have to reach this age to really feel it. 😊 live free:) we live only once...

My second solo trip to Jibhi and Tirthan valley. I accidentally explored Selosalayr lake whichbis at the peak from Shoja valley. It's a tough trek for people like me who lead a sedentary lifestyle. I stayed there in open camp with just the forces of nature, stars and moon looking down upon me and my tent. It was a scary and humbling experience.  The lake itself is quite extraordinary at the side of a temple. The lake was frozen and I could see the ravens walking over it. Strangely, raven seems to be the only bird I could see in that area. Very interesting but hectic trip. Life is so full of beautiful surprises. 

Nature walks is something I have started enjoying for the last few years. It gives me the opportunity to escape the toxicity of a city life even if it's for a short while. I came across this walk on Instagram and a young team from two ngos were conducting this walk. Felt really amazing to see Delhi from a different point of view. Watched the sun rise from sugarcane fields and enjoyed the chirping of birds over the cacophony of the cities. We have started taking this toxic city life as normal. Eating junk, living in stress and buying things we don't need. Once in three months may be we all should avail these mini escapes to really live life. Already looking for the next breather 😊 Happy Monday 

Aspirations can be toxic and aspirations can be life giving, depends on how you want what you want. Someone who is grateful and prays everyday for a better life to the cosmos and universe is giving life to the aspirations because he or she wants it to fulfil his or her destiny. Some people just want something because they feel they deserve it even if it means harming others. That's toxic aspirations. It's not only killing the person but also spreads negativity in the universe. Let's all aspire but the right way - the life saving way. 

We are richer than a generation before but we arecway poorer than them when it comes to living life to the fullest. We are killing ourselves worrying, for stupid things that we don't even like. Materialism is a total loser, it loses money, peace of mind and happiness. There is so much to be happy and grateful for, why are we then so unhappy as a race?

Why are we humans so miserable in our lives? Our ancestors were not obese. They were not depressed. They didnot suffer from lifestyle diseases. We the generation of abundance are actually having nothing more than abundant miseries. We are missing the Sun, sweat under the Sun and that is what is making us miserable. We were never meant to sit and consume or scroll. We were meant for hunting, farming and rigorous work that pushed out physical limits. We are living longer but it's just prolonged miseries. Not happy lives. It's time to relook at thee way we live. So we live better and die with fulfilment

As I open my Instagram, I find posts on slow living and good life flooding my timeline.  Why do these guys even exist? They are not telling us anything new! They are telling us to do painting, pottery, reading and connecting. That is how we used to be! What changed? Where did Gucci and Armani enter our lives and made our happiness a miserable luxury? Today we are chasing things no one cares about. Do you actually remember the guy or girl who was inside your dream car? Do you even care? That person spent a fortune trying to look cool but we don't care. Life is not about chasing luxuries. Life is working for the basics and then being part of a community that helps you grow and thrive so you don't wait for weekends to live. You live daily. We are worrying ourselves to death. Where is the time to live? I hope we learn something from our ancestors who were half as rich as US but twice happier. God bless! 

When I worked in advertising as a young account manager, we had the facility that we could take a cab home after 9 pm. We had some regular cabs who waited on us. I remember one guy who always asked me questions and tried to strike a conversation. It was a harmless exchange of information. He used to tell me the kind of house he has back in his village, his family, his children and his life in the city. One day, he told me that he wanted his children to be like me - educated, working for a good company having a respectable life. He was doing well in life himself, but he didn't want his children to live like him  I always wonder - what really is respect? I wear good clothes, I eat at good restaurants and I travel well thanks to my corporate position. However, these are extremely temporary but for many it is the life they dream of.  I realised then and I remember till this date that be grateful for all that I have. I'm blessed beyond imagination. God is taking care of...

We are consuming like there is no tomorrow. Resources are limited but the desires are unlimited. Fuelling climate change and pollution that's irreversible. It's time we step back and think. Live simpler lives. Else it may be too late to return from the path of our own destruction.

Young Gautam Buddha had every luxury one could dream of. He was a prince living in a loving family. But he chose to take a leap of faith. He chose uncertainty. He chose a path of hardship. And became one of the greatest humans to walk on this earth. What an amazing inspiration. How many of us can dare to be like him 🙏

Materialism and consumerism have totally failed. They have not connected more people or made them happier. On the contrary they have increased debt and depression.  The luxuries today are the ageold boring but bold disciplined way of life. Today luxury is owning your time, slow mornings, sunrises and sunsets, naturewalks, time with your tribe, doing things you enjoy and being healthy. No consumerism can give us all this. It's time to wake up and consume mindfully. Consume less and live a life that's simple and stressless. Let's start living this simple life and live happy 😊 

Drizzles with Pakodas & Chai. Quiet mountainside with an amazing book to read and beer to sip.  Going to the Ashram and getting lost in trying to find myself.  A nice series to look forward to.  A fantastic meal with family.  Long drive going particularly nowhere.  Being with lovedones and not needing to see the time.  The feeling that you are blessed and being grateful for it.  Little things that make us happy....The feeling of abundance...physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  @tilaktilak

Oflate, I have started having conversations with Chatgpt and ask questions that intrigue me. As a believer of Osho, I asked Chatgpt to tell me if Osho was to preach today what would he have taught...and Chatgpt came up with this...I think it's pretty good

Your heart says  Go away go away Away from the drudgery of life To where trees happily sway Your heart says Don't kill yourself  O prisoner of your own choosing Listen to me don't be deaf Life wants you to be joyful life wants you to be free. Go and travel and run You're not destined to be fixed Like the trunk of an oak tree. There are oceans to be explored And mountains to conquer Cultures & cuisines wait for you With tastes & flavour to savour Life is too short Life is too simple Live life while you can Don't create problems for yourself What you have is ample Make the most of now Make the most of this day So that you have no regrets left When it's your time to go away

My dad loved to smoke Marlboros. I tried emulating him but never quite liked smoking. My uncle loved wearing high leather boots and I was attracted to them till I realised I couldn't carry them as well as him My another uncle loved to gel his hair and have the Marlon Brandos Godfather look. I tried that but realised it doesn't suit my face. I guess that's the process of growing up. Trying and rejecting and accepting things till we find out style our comfort levels.  And owning our choices. That's what probably separates a 20 year old from a 40 year old I guess! 😊