Saturday 8 December 2018

Learn to Maintain Self Respect: If You Don’t Respect Yourself, Why Should Anyone Else?

While growing up, everyone repeatedly told you to respect others. And because of this, you may have became obsessed with pleasing everyone else, putting yourself last. Hence it is important to learn to Maintain Self Respect: If You Don’t Respect Yourself, Why Should Anyone Else?
If you truly want to respect yourself, then you have to accept yourself, and work on becoming the person you always dreamed of becoming. Take steps to maintain self respect,to know how to feel happy with whom you are and make the world treat you as you deserve to be treated as a respected personality.
Respect starts from within, so if you wish to be respected, you have to do what it takes to respect yourselfthat is, living in a way that demonstrates self-respect. Would you speak to a respected friend the way you speak to yourself? Your treatment of yourself sets the standards for how others will treat you.If you have no self-respect you can't respect others, because what value would you offer someone by giving the respect of o“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” (Mark Twain)
If you want self-respect, don't stagnate. Seek out meaning and passion in your life. Look for opportunities for growth and positive change, even if you feel scared. Jump into the river of life and keep moving. You'll find self-respect comes naturally if you do.
Why Self Respect is Important
On the other hand, Self Respect is a positive emotion. It is all about honoring yourself and honoring what you stand for. It makes you independent and it comes only when you follow the path of discipline. Self Respect makes you respect your boundaries; it helps you define and honor your own opinion as distinct from others. It makes you respect the choices you make in your life and above all, it gives you independence of thoughtRespecting Your Mind, Body, and Spirit. Don’t look in a mirror and say, “I’m not attractive” or “I’m so stupid.” That’s not what matters. Don’t you think your loved ones love you unconditionally? Of course! They love you because of what’s inside of you. They respect you for who you really are and you can learn to respect yourself too.
Respect your body because it is the home of your mind and spirit, then harness that spirit and love it because it is who you are.Loving your body, mind, and spirit is the key to gaining self-respect. It is then that you can extend yourself out to meet the needs of others.

Look After Your Appearance, Without Being a Slave to Fashion. Our appearance is important. It can give us confidence or it can make us feel awkward. Take care of our appearance; dressing smart for the right occasion gives us self confidence. At the same time, we don’t want to be the slave of fashion trends. Dress for your own benefit; don’t dress in the expectation of pleasing others and receiving compliments.
Learn to Handle Criticism.We are sensitive beings. Nobody likes criticism and when we are criticized, either directly or indirectly, we feel bad about yourself – even if the criticism is not justified. To maintain a sense of self respect, we need to learn how to deal with criticism. Don’t take criticism personally.

Look at it from a detached perspective. Maybe it is false, in which case we should ignore it. If their is some truth, we can use it to develop our character. However, it is important not to take criticism too personally. Just because we are not very good at a particular task, doesn’t mean we need to lose our self respect.
Spend time with respectful people.We tend to attract people in our lives who reflect our state of mind. If you're lacking in self-respect, you might be reinforcing your feelings by surrounding yourself with people who don't respect you. Begin to create boundaries for yourself that show others you have self-respect. Release people from your life who don't honor your boundaries. Actively seek out people who treat you the way you want to be treated.
Believe in your choices. If you want to respect yourself, then you have to believe in the decisions you've made. You have to be firm in your beliefs and make an effort to understand yourself and to know what will really make you happy. Give yourself the reward of a decision well-made and stick to it, no matter how difficult it may be.
It's okay to ask other people for advice, and this can actually help you gain a more balanced perspective, but you shouldn't spend your time doubting yourself, thinking that what you've done is all wrong, and wishing that you had done something else.

Work on building your confidence. Achieving self-respect is difficult if you're not happy with who you are, how you look, or what you're doing. Building true confidence takes a lot of work, but doing a few simple things every day can start you on your way.
·  Start by maintaining positive body language and good posture, smiling more, and thinking at least three good thoughts about you each hour.If someone compliments you, accept their statement by saying, “Thank you.”
Maintain a positive attitude. A positive attitude can make or break your success in life, as well as your thoughts about who you are. Even if things aren't going your way, be confident about the fact that something good is bound to happen eventually. Be pleased with your everyday life and all that it can offer you. If you feel overly negative about everything and only imagine the worst in every situation, then you're bound to never feel good about who you are or to give yourself the respect you deserve.
Stop trying to keep up with everyone. One of the reasons you may be lacking self-respect is because you feel bad that you're single while all of your friends are engaged, or that you feel inadequate that you don't make as much money as other people you know. Maintain your own standards and work on achieving the goals you want to achieve.

Don’t waste your time doing what you think will impress your Facebook friends or give you bragging rights. It's much more impressive to succeed at doing what you want to do instead of following the path that everyone else has taken.
Respect Others. If you have no respect for others, how can you have self-respect? Self respect means we have an inner confidence and inner assurance, but this is not a confidence built on superiority. It is the wrong approach to try and feel better by putting others down. If we look for the good qualities in other people, it is easier to remember the good qualities in ourselves.
Maintain your environment. If you can’t take care of your home, your table or car, you can’t take care of yourself. Clean up, declutter and surround yourself with beautiful things that are a reflection of your beauty and character.
Show your hobbies.Stop hiding your hobbies. Openly share your passions. There are plenty of people who will be interested in the real you.
People will value you less when they realize you’re spineless and easily manipulated. Understand your limits and learn to say no.

Self respect comes when we value our attitude to life and other people. Even if things go badly don’t lose your self respect. Work with the best of intentions and gain your self respect from that.

Hence from above lines it is clear importance of Self respect, so learn to Maintain Self Respect:If You Don’t Respect Yourself, Why Should Anyone Else? If you don’t have respect for yourself, you won’t get it anywhere else.Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself. Abraham Joshua Heschel

Saturday 1 December 2018

10-Mystic Crazy Love Quotes of Rumi Explained by By Kamaljeet Grewal (Part-3)

Rumi: Was a superstar of his and his poems were POP music of that  time. Admired loved and cherished in the East ever since and in the West and globally since the 1990s. Thirteenth Century mystic Rumi's  love poems has taken the world by storm.

Rumi -The great sufi Poet of mystic Love, of the 13th century has composed his mystic poems and prose works in Persian. Rumi was the most famous personality in the region and his fame and unique mystic poetic style full of Romance had already spread 3,000 miles away to India during his lifetime.
Translation is an art but to explain the poem in simple words, expressing what the poet wants to convey is a science.It is difficult to follow in depth the message and spirit of Rumi's poems, based only on translations.Kamal Jeet Grewal has filled this gap by explaining the real spirit of Rumi’s poem by her explanations. 
Here in this Blog: “ 10-Mystic Love quotes of Rumi Explained by By Kamaljeet Grewal”, I have selected Rumi’s ten couples –explained by Kamaljeet Grewal .Though she is not a Sufi scholar, she has elaborated Rumi's poems in graceful words that hit the hearts of its readers.
It's impossible today to imagine how popular poetry of Love with a mix of mystic was at the time of Rumi. It was the pop music of its time. Rumi is sometimes called the Master of Mystic Love because the Sufi path strives for ecstatic ego and annihilation in the fires of Divine Love.
His Sufi poems and works have the real essence of union with Beloved God, " the primal - The God", the concept of tauhid (Indivisible Oneness of God).
In his poems he added mystical references, direct emotional expressions, issues involving maturity and growth of the soul and even anecdotes about daily life.There are four major themes that run in his Sufi words: Heartache, Drunkenness, Disagreeable Lover and Aloneness.
(1)-I thought, "First I'll know you, then I'll die."
            He replied, “Whoever knows me never dies."
Explained by Kamal Jeet
Man works in a structured way with planning and organising each piece of work. 

There is always a 'first ' a 'second ' a ' third ' and yet a ' fourth ‘...And so on and so forth...
Even meeting God, he plans in steps and seriation!
But God's reply supersedes all His plans!

One who knows God...never dies...the soul lives on ...meeting God everyday ....in all his moments..as the man who has been successful in knowing God ..Sees Him in all His creations around him ...
 he no more remains a seeker ...he feels God in every atom around him ..
(2)-Love is when God says to you,
"I've created everything for you. "

And you say,
 "I have left everything for you."

Explained by Kamal Jeet
God has showered us with blessings ...that we can never count and thank Him for.

These things sometimes are so attractive that we get immersed in their beauty and take for granted and forget the Provider!

But a blessed soul is aware that all these are only second to The Beloved!
And he expresses this thought!
This soul stands delivered!!!!
Wish you dear friends...a pleasant evening..
(3)-Your Love has filled me with the madness 

no one could ever know.
Your gaze has enchanted my heart with a poem
no one could ever write. 

Explained by Kamal Jeet
The crescendo and ecstacy in Love reaches the peak ...and the outburst of the heart in Love expresses his uncontrollable feelings...

The 'madness ' in the Love of the Beloved surpasses all other madness...

One supposedly, piercing look from the Beloved
is likened to an intensely touching poetry ..that no Lover could ever have written !Magical is the Love of the Beloved!

Love is the most powerful emotion that captivates not only senses but heart and soul. Poetry is the spontaneous flow of emotions that love generates from eyes, captures the whole self and ultimately transformed into poetry.All the melodies , spiritual verses, are full of love . 
If one doesn't get mad in love that's is not love and if one writes poetry without love that can't touch the heart and soul. 
(4)-Nothing can nourish the soul 
but light.
Explained by Kamal Jeet
The Divine Light is the origin from where we have emerged...and that only nourishes the soul.... Nothing can substitute it.
The Divine Light is the origin from where we have emerged...and that only nourishes the soul.... Nothing can substitute it!
(5)-Do not ask what
Love can make or do...
Look at the colours
of the earth.

Explained by Kamal Jeet
The marvels of Love are indescribable..Unthinkable...Unimaginable..
What Love can do is unquestionable!

To see what Love can do ...it is enough to look around to see what the Love of God for His creation has done!

If that is what Love can do ...why shirk away from Love...or shy away from it ...or even stop the flow of this emotion!

It is this Love of God for us...that turns buds to fragrant blossoms ...that sprinkles the dew on each blade of grass ...that brings the string of raindrops racing down ...that brightens the sky with the rainbow ...that sprinkles the twinkling stars in the night sky ...
Spread your Love for God and mankind !
See the magic that you can create!
(6)-You smell...
...like Love.
Explained by Kamal Jeet
Love has an intoxicating fragrance!
It fills the heart, mind, and body with an essence divine !
Spread Love..
It's the perfume, which when sprinkled, can charge the environment with positivity!!!
(7)-I can sense Your
presence in my heart
although You belong
to the whole world.

Explained by Kamal Jeet
The Beloved is Omnipresent...
In our conversation to Him...one feels that He is only listening to him...little realising that each one feels similar as The Beloved listens to each one of us...

Similarly Lord Krishna gave the same feeling to each of His seekers.

It is said that each 'gopi' felt that Lord Krishna was solely dancing with her...in the Raas Lila..

He belonged to the whole world...That was His Magnanimity...

Thousands flock to the temples, mosques, gurdwaras and churches...and in prayer each seeker feels His presence within...

The Beloved belongs to everyone as much as each one belongs to Him...
(8)-What is the heart?
...A flower opening..
Explained by Kamal Jeet
Man is sent to the earth with a pure and fresh heart...the function being to Love..

to be compassionate ...to nurture positive emotions ...to pour out generosity...to shower kindness .....

Rumi calls the heart a flower...Which is to open layer after layer...Blossoming and spreading its fragrance around...

A question to ask ourselves...Am I allowing the heart to carry out the functions that God intended it to???
Food for thought!
(9) She breathes into my ear...
until my soul takes on her fragrance.
She is the soul of my soul. 
Explained by Kamal Jeet
Another one of deep lines of Rumi...
He takes a peep deeper than a normal one ..
He calls on the soul of the soul...
The soul of the soul whispers Love into its ears..and fill the soul with a divine fragrance ..
Meaning that the Soul is a living spirit ...and like a human lives and breathes because of the soul present in him .Similarly the soul's soul keeps it alive ..
In these lines Rumi treats the soul as a complete entity within itself..
(10)--Do not worry if all the candles
in the world flicker and die..
..We have the spark
that starts the fire.
Explained by Kamal Jeet
Rumi expresses hopefulness even in the most hopeless situation.
As worldly possessions have an expiry date ...they may get exhausted and become extinct!

But there is no need to worry...Because the spark of the Beloved is inexhaustible...it never has an end!
As the Guru Granth Sahib describes it as
'ANAHAD' .that which has no end!
Kamaljeet Grewal



Tuesday 27 November 2018

One Day Road Trip to Nagarjuna Sagar Dam And Ethipothala Waterfalls from Hyderabad: A Tranquil Sojourn

There are many points for a one day road trips from Hyderabad that can be enjoyed.Being an Engineer and a nature lover, I decided to visit Nagarjuna Sagar Dam in District Nalgonda and Ethipothala Waterfalls. Nagarjuna Sagar is one of the largest masonry dams in the world and supplies water and electricity to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Well that final Sunday came; let the adventure to find some space for ourselves. We started around 8:00 am in the morning from Hyderabad and reached there by 12:30 pm, driving slowly and enjoying the scenery on the way, stopping at places taking pictures and a cup of cutting teas. However, roads of AP are good, that is what I realized in this trip. Even this interior road, where both side it was shrubs for long way. Rest is the story, how we chalked a route for the trip.
The total distance between Hyderabad and Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is about 180 KM and can be covered easily in 4-5 hours depending on traffic conditions. Unfortunately, there are not many choices to stay and foodings around Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. We entered in APTDC Haritha Vijay Vihar resort campus, to refresh and stayed there about half an hour. Behind the reception was a breathtaking view of the huge lake formed due to the dam. Serene, peaceful, extremely quiet.
It has huge lawns, playing area, gym, pool etc, and on first looks appears a great place to stay.The amazing sunrise and sunset from the hotel with the reflections in water and fog slowly rising to make the view mysterious, can be enjoyed. We were short of time to watch this amazing sun rise and sun set.I noticed and clicked pictures of some Green Bee-eaters, Sunbirds, and Indian Silverbills right in the garden of the hotel.

Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, built across the Krishna River is considered one of largest dams built in the recent times in Asia. As the tallest masonry dam, Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is also the pride of India. The project has catchment area of roughly 215000 sq.km. The project also boasts of the largest canal system network in India.
Walking on the damn is banned for security reasons. However, there is a jetty which you can take to nearby island and see the museum.

The mighty dam was completed in the year 1969 and has a majestic height of 124 meters. It is 1 km long, and has 26 crest gates. The dam can store upto 11, 472 million cubic meters of water in the reservoir.
The project commenced in February 1956 and after a brief gap, due to lack of modern equipment it was constructed with stone rather than concrete. The dam was completed fully in 1972 once the crest gates were installed.
The dam has two canals, the left and right canals that supply water from the reservoir. The dam is also one of the earliest projects built in post independence India for irrigation and hydro-electricity generation. Exclusively for the purpose of tourism, a lake developed behind the dam, which boasts of its status as the third largest man-made lake anywhere in the world.

Ethipothala Waterfalls

Waterfalls are synonymous with Liril Girl Karen Lunel, who changed the way we take a bath under the waterfalls or dream about it.For decades, people have associated with the iconic advertisement Liril soap with a fresh-looking, lively bikini-clad girl under a waterfall. Even the tune “laa-la la la laa’ became a familiar ring with viewers of that period.Unusual as it is to hear of waterfalls named after soaps.Ethipothala Waterfalls is not such glamorous .Actually it is very tough to take a bath under a waterfall with all the algae, leeches, slippery and sharp rocks and a thousand bystanders watching you. Ethipothala Waterfall is a great place for mild trekking and camping along with refreshing nature sightseeing.After spending some time watching the serene beauty of River Krishna and game of water birds, sky left behind by the sun, we embarked on our next destination, at a distance of 14 km from Nagarjuna Sagar, Ethipothala waterfalls. The striking falls on River Chandravanka (a tributary of River Krishna), towards the down flow of Nagarjuna Sagar Dam.It is one of the prime places to visit in Nagarjuna Sagar and also one of the top Tourist places in Telangana.

Ethipothala waterfall is formed by the mountain stream which falls from a height of approximately 70 feet into a lagoon. Three streams namely Nakka Vagu, Tummala Vagu and Chandravanka Vagu combine to form this waterfall. The name Ethipothala has been derived from the Sanskrit word 'Etitaposthal' meaning the place for penance.
It is believed that saints have performed rigorous penance at this place. The caves nearby also attest their presence at this place. The melody of waterfalls did ring in our ears.There were lot of monkeys  to disturb, so be sure you do not carry food items carelessly in your hand.
Now it was time to return back, the Sun was shining low on sky line. While returning Hyderabad, We stopped on road by side of Nagarjuna Sagar dam, to get a perfect view of the river Krishna flowing below us and various types of birds playing their own games in the water

We could see the circular coracle boats used by fisherman from a distance as the evening approached fast.As expected the afterglow post the sunset showed us wonderful hues of color leaving us spellbound. After spending some time watching the sky left behind by the sun, we embarked on our destination back.
However we have experienced nature has its ways of helping you out often when you travel or probably life in general. During the return we were awestruck by the sunset happening right in front of the road hiding beyond the horizon till we reach further towards it only to see it hide again. 

The return journey was tiring; taking couple of breaks on the way back with cutting tea and potato chips mainly to remove the fatigue that comes along a long road trip.Entered in Hyderabad at 9.30pm.It was too late to cook dinner at home, so we took packed Biryani from a hotel. Here it ends; one Day Road Trip to Nagarjuna Sagar Dam and Ethipothala Waterfalls from Hyderabad.My camera was full of memories.

We reached back little late but were pretty satisfied with our road trip.All in all, a great road trip, and some good clicks, what else do you need? 
 Written, photographed and posted by Engr Maqbool Akram.