Diwali Celebration

Awesome. Hello everyone joining online, online from the world of the YouTube. I am in my weekly mastermind session and today is a special because we are celebrating festivals and the stories around festival. We have some amazing interesting members who are going to share their stories But to keep things in perspective, to kick things off, I wanted to share one of my story, uh, which was a very amusing story when it comes to festival. So I'm going to take you back around 13 years back. It was in 2009. I was in my first company working in Bangalore. And you know, when you are outstation, you have to go back to your home city, home, hometown, you actually have to make a lot of struggle. And I do remember that time, that was an interesting struggle because it started with a flight from Bangalore to Delhi. So we said, okay, we are gonna take a flight, and it was an amazing flight. Me and one of my friend, we came to Delhi, and from there we took a train But there was a twist. There was no direct train from my home, from Delhi to my hometown, because all the trains were full, you know, the festival season. So we just got a train till Lucknow. So when we reached Delhi, we had overnight stay at my friend's house. I was now joined by another friend of mine. Now all three of us actually boarded a train and we went from Delhi to Lucknow. 36 hours has already passed And we are still traveling, and the train finishes in Lucknow. Now we are still 250-225 kilometers away from my hometown, and then we had to go to a bus. Now by this time we are completely tired. We are 40 hours, we are still not reached, and we got into the bus. Now the bus starts, and midway there was some problem with the bus conductor and the driver. They were fighting, and suddenly the driver stops in, uh, in, in a town in between and goes away. And it's like, I don't care about you guys, I am going, I'm going to celebrate my festival, you guys care about yourself. We are completely out of it, we do not know what is happening, but somehow there is a replacement bus comes. We get a sigh of relief. Now maybe we'll be getting there. The second bus comes, it's jam-packed. On place of 2, there are 5 people sitting. We are perspiring from all the places, and the bus starts rolling. And it would have not gone 50 kilometers, suddenly there is a puncture in the bus. And not one, not two, but the 3 tires simultaneously burst, and we are again stuck. In now in a deserted place, there is no way we could go. Somehow the bus reaches to a tire puncture shop and we were there waiting for it to be over. And we are just having fun, we are enjoying, we are waiting for it to get over. It takes— hello everyone, it takes a lot of time to get it. And I actually have some photos of that, and please, I do do look like little pacha. So please, you can laugh, there's no problem. I'm gonna share my screen also. You can laugh if you want to, but that's fun. That— those are my two friends and we were stuck. And you can see, this is our UP, uh, Roadways bus. And we, we three friends are like, uh, doing all sort of things to time pass. We were in this place and it took another 2 and a half hours to get all the tire fixed up. And now we were like, okay, now we should be reaching home, now should be okay. But it wasn't over. When the bus started, I had an uncle— yeah, I would say around a person in 50s— who were very much worried about my marriage. Now can you imagine you getting married in a bus? He was like, beta, how much do you earn per month? Hmm, you get very less, but you know, you are just starting the job. You might get an increment very soon. You keep doing the work. Which caste are you from? Are you married? And that was uncalled interview for next 1.5 hours. And my 2 friends that you saw the photo, they're actually a couple of seats ahead of me. And they were making all kind of fun and faces. And that was such an amazing journey. And what it made me realize is that sometimes reaching home is such a big challenge, but when you reach home, you really enjoy, you really relish those moments. So as we are getting into the festival time, I know one of our members is actually traveling right now, and many of you might be traveling. Remember those stories, enjoy and have fun. And share that afterwards because that's how we spread happiness and love. Happy Diwali to all of you, and it's time for me to call on my members. So who want to share their story first? Please raise your hand, otherwise I'm gonna pick someone. Okay, Alka ji, do you want to?

So it's not a Diwali story. But it is a little different. It's not a Diwali.

Go ahead.

So those were like times when we were dating. And, you know, we had very little money on our hands. So we were studying also, and we were dating. We used to go to a place in Mumbai, in Yashivaji Park, it was called Everest. And we used to sit over there and we used to order one hot and sour soup. Into 2. In Mumbai, you know, you have that 1 into 2, 2 into 3, 1 into 3. You can order like as many people are there, you can order that many. So I had ordered— we used to order that 1 into 2 soup, and we used to sit there for maybe 1 to 2 hours just in silence, taking that soup little by little. It's not like they will throw you out of the place. They It's not like that. It's a place where you can sit. It's not like ODP. ODP, they will just come and they will say, anything else you want? And they will throw us out. So here we used to sit looking into each other's eyes. And there was so much that I wanted to ask him, but I could not. And I didn't even know what I was eating actually. What we were eating was something. There was vegetables in it, there may be broccoli, there may be mushrooms, there may be whatever it was in the soup that I was eating. It was a hot and sour soup. I didn't even realize, like, so beautifully done it was. And we were just looking into each other's eyes, and even though I wanted to ask something, I wanted to say something, I was quiet, and so was he. And very little talking was done. It was not a very silent place, it was a little noisy place also. And what I want to say is that there is a language of silence. And when we used to meet, it was like a celebration, even though we didn't celebrate anything. We did not burst crackers or we did not do anything. Even for Diwali, I remember when I met him, we met at this place and then we got separated from there. We went to our own houses. But there is a language of silence, and celebration is not only about making noise or about doing masti. I'm a masti person, I'm a fun person. But what I realized was that we can talk with our eyes, we can talk with silence. Silence is also a language, and we can connect a lot in that time. And this is what I remembered. And after a few days, I had to go for a— actually, the medical ball was before that. We have a medical ball every year in a medical fraternity. And this was time when I knew him a little better. But before that, the medical ball we had to go, and I was looking for a partner, and I didn't know. My seniors, people were coming and asking me, come, come, come for this medical ball, and I didn't know anybody, so I didn't say yes to anybody. But this boy, I had liked him a little bit, so I reached out to him and I asked him. He was from different college, I am from different college. I reached out to him and I asked him that, would you like to come for the medical ball with me? So he said yes. And today when I think about it, I look at myself and I say, how did I do that? What courage I was having that time to reach out to this boy and to ask him whether you will come. And you know, the funny thing is that in the medical ball, he asked me for a waltz. I didn't know what waltz meant, but I felt it was a close dance, and I thought he was going to take advantage of me, and I said no. And I married this person later, and let me tell you, friends, that It has been 40 years I'm married, but he's never asked me for a waltz. This funny things I was just remembering, so I wanted to share with you. So celebration to me is just connecting with another person. So that's what I wanted to share. Thank you so much.

Awesome, awesome. Thank you so much for sharing, and really, really liked your story. Really fun story. You, you, you said no to so many people, and you reached out, and you finally got that person hooked with you for 40+ years. That's amazing. That's a milestone for many people. And then yes, if you have, you have the right person, you don't need a festival to celebrate. Every day in itself becomes a celebration. So thank you so much for sharing your story. It was so nice to have you. Awesome. Okay, so now it's time for another member. So I'm looking at 2 members right now. Who should I choose unless they raise their hand themselves? Okay, I'm going to actually choose Taewon.

Okay, sure.

Go ahead, Diva.

So yeah, I mean, today actually I was having a few realizations. Uh, it's been— I've completed one year of my marriage, and, uh, one year back I got married. And you know, for me, marriage had become like a project, like literally, like I have to do it at one point of time because my mother had created so much of pressure on me that, you know. And I also was sort of— I also sort of got very excited that I want to get married, and my Mom was also like a typical Indian mom that you have to get married. So that one year has passed and I feel that a lot of, uh, you know, I have sort of become like— not some things have become very good also in the sense that I'm much more understanding of people now, but a lot has undergone. I feel that it's, it's difficult to express, but Something which went away from my personality, and I felt a little bad today. Actually, I went out by myself today, and something that went away, which I actually let go. My husband is very supportive as a person. He says that you can go out. You know that society, how it— society, you know, trains you, like your husband should take you out, he should take you shopping, he should take you for food, fun, everything. Like he should be the one. And in this, uh, in this rat race of always being with him, I stopped being with my own self. And this was a very big realization. I realized it a couple of months, you know, just around my marriage only, because I was trying to get hang of things. And today I actually realized that I had restrained myself so much. I most of the time because my work is also online. So most of the times I'm training people online, I'm coaching them online. So because of that I remain at home. But even on weekends I used to remain at home because my husband is a very indoor person. He does not like going out. But then I felt that I did an injustice to myself by keeping myself caged. Because see, the other person might have a different, different personality. Like he is an introvert, he does not like talking much. If you lock him for 3 days, he'll be the happiest person on the planet. On the other hand, if you lock me in a room, I will go in depression. So I get energy by talking to people, by connecting with people, by actually genuinely giving to people. That's my type. He is different. I am different. So I think in this thing, what I realized today is celebration. Because we are celebrating Diwali, I felt that I did one good step today. I got ready and I again, like every other day, I was trying to convince my husband that you should go with me, you should go with me. And he said he's very stubborn in that thing when he does not feel like going. I was literally like, please, can we go? I tried really, really hard, but he was like, no, I'm tired, this, that. You took me for grocery shopping in the morning. But then I also became stern. I said, "See, tomorrow I have a full day. I have to work. I have some things lined up which I can't ignore, so I have to actually go out." And I actually went by myself. I actually strolled there. I bought a book on "Eight Rules of Love." I sat there and read that book for a couple of minutes. And as I was reading that book, behind me there was a small patch of grass, you can say, and There were, you know, strangers were sometimes, they were putting some things there, like some eateries were there, not exactly a lot of, but little bit of eateries were there. So there was a rat just behind me eating that small chip. Some chip was there, something was there. He was continuously like this eating it. And I was just looking at him and I was, I was trying to shoo him and he was so just busy in his own thing. So I— that was such a cute moment. And today actually, I, I was reading this book and so many things happened. I think celebration, love, all of these amazing things start with your own self. And you know, celebration begins with you. When you have to— when you feel like celebrating, you should actually put on your best clothes, you should actually put on that festive vibe, and you should actually do what you like. And I did that. And actually, when I came back, I felt so much good. And even my husband, because he loves doing his own He's developing some apps, he's continuously doing something. But today actually I didn't even feel like complaining because other days I would always be like, you don't take me there, see other husbands, they take their wife there. But I was saying to him also this thing that, you know, I didn't even for a moment, I didn't feel that sense of cribbing because somewhere I felt I have elevated myself just a little bit to a level where, you know, I am taking charge of my life. I don't know why as women we sometimes give that driver's seat to men. Uh, I had, uh, I mean, I, I was a very, very empowered woman, but somewhere that empowerment went away by the way. But I feel that today on this Chhoti Diwali, I got my empowerment back. I'm feeling so alive and I told him that now I'm going to go wherever I feel like on my own terms. I'm going to roam around in the whole city like Earlier I used to be— I used to travel all Toastmasters, all different, different places whenever I get time. Because now, because I have realized that over a period of time, because I'm not connecting with myself, I'm just so much engrossed in work that I'm sort of numbing my emotions also. I felt that. So I would say to anyone and everyone, especially ladies here, if you feel that you need to take a breath, take charge of your life, please go ahead, have some nice ice cream, do something good for yourself. Buy clothes, do whatever you feel like, but just, you know, just have fun with being, you know, just being your own self, who you are as a person, and prioritize yourself. Because we as women, I don't know why we are so good at putting ourselves at the back foot. So just put yourself in the front foot, and I think you'll feel amazing about yourself.

Awesome, awesome, Taiba. Thank you. I, I really feel pity about that mouse or rabbit, whatever it was. But totally agree that yes, it's not only about men empowerment or women empowerment, it's about self-empowerment, right? First you need to empower yourself, then only you can empower others. I am very particular about having my me time, and if I don't have that, my wife can feel that, that he's cringy today, just stay away from him, you never know. And also I wanted to say that, no, A lot of time this burden has been set on men as well, that okay, only you have to give gift, only you have to. In a, in a society where everybody is equal, I'm going to get a gift from my wife. Just to tell, I have told this is my favorite color shirt I want, and, and that is how it should be. It should not depend on one side. We are partner in whatever we do, so there should not be only burden on one. So thank you, and I'm great that you are relishing your solitude and going out And, and I'm very sure if you did not crib, he also didn't crib because he got the solitude he wanted inside home. And that way, that was a win-win for both of you. So awesome. Thank you so much for sharing. Let's move on. So great job, Taiba.

Haritosh, can I share something?

Yes, please.

So Taiba, I would like to congratulate you for your story because what you have shared is so beautiful. And within one year of your marriage, you have realized that. So that's a round of applause from my side, which I must have realized after many years of my marriage. But today I have realized it. But also, I'll tell you one more thing. What you said very nicely was that other husbands are doing this. So first and foremost, that comparison is a killer of creativity. And it is a killer of your life only, actually. And you know that better than anybody else, because you're a teacher yourself, you're a trainer, and you're a coach. And the other thing, what you said, that you empowered yourself by going out. That was the best thing that you did. And, and, you know, don't wait for your husband to buy you a ring, or a dress, or whatever you want. Just go and buy it. You know, I have my friends who are cribbing and cribbing and cribbing. He didn't buy me this, he didn't buy me that. You know, even that Karva Chauth ka vrat we have in India. So my daughter-in-law was telling that my son did not put that food in her mouth. So I said, you have two hands, put it in your mouth by yourself. So that's where I wanted to share that what you did was very awesome. Thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much.

Yes, Haritosh Srivastav, I would like to jump in here. Yes, I 100% agree with Alka ji and Taiba. Taiba, congratulations. Even I wanted to congratulate you on this day. Like you, I didn't realize it, you know, early days of after my marriage. It took me so much of time realizing it. Yes, like, uh, self-attention, self-love, and self-time is, is more important than being depending on your husband. Uh, you beautifully said that I don't know why women, they, you know, they put husbands on the driver's seat. Yes, we should be our own driver. That's absolutely right. So here I would like to take, like, I should go ahead with my own story. What Taiba was sharing it. So should I go ahead?

Yes, yes, absolutely, go for it.

That's really awesome. And you like, uh, realize me— you made me realize today, uh, the things which you realized after 1 year of your marriage, I took so much of time realizing it. In like, uh, in previous 2 or 1 or 2 years, I have changed a lot. This what I am realizing today when I was going through your story. You were just sharing your story, I was just going through into my own story what all changes I have got in my personality. I was kind of person, uh, like who always feel that husband should, uh, do this for you, he should do that for you, and he should be there with you whenever you are working, whenever you're doing anything at home, especially when he is at home. But my husband, he is again like, uh, he always wanted to be there alone. He doesn't want to work in like in a group. He wanted to work independently. That is his thing. If during like house chores if you are asking him to do something he wants that he should do it alone I should not get in between but I was this some like yes we both will do together like it is like hamara job bata hai apne se. That kind of thought was there in my mind. And every time, like, it was like our conversation, it went, it went into arguments because his, uh, thought was different, my thought was different. But I never realized it. I was like, yes, he should, he should be there with me always. That kind of personality I was. But after few years of my marriage, like, uh, probably, uh, 2 or 3 years back I started, uh, thinking that why should I be dependent on someone? Why should I always, uh, be, be happy? If he is happy, I should feel happy. I thought that yes, it is— you should go by your own understanding, you should go by your own feelings. Let's not be dependent on him and be independent in thought. I was independent financially, but I was not independent, uh, like, uh, thought-wise, mentally I was not independent. So that made me realize, yes, I have to take my own charge. I have whatever I wish to do. If I have to go outside, if I have to meet someone, if I have to roam around, let's go alone. Let's go with friends, whosoever wants to go along with you. Let's not be dependent on you. And today I'm kind of person, if I have to take any decision, I never thought that whether I should ask him, whether I should not ask him. If I feel I have to do it, I simply do it. If I want to go somewhere, I don't take second thought. I immediately decide, yes, I have to do it. Now I'm completely independent mentally, that whatever I wish to do, I can do. I now— I first I love myself and then I love to someone else. This what kind of personality like I really love, uh, my new version. So that's all from my side. So thank you, Taiba, to bring that here so that I can also realize, yes, I have also completely changed. Thank you so much.

Awesome, awesome. Thank you so much. I am so glad we are talking about self-love because even though festivals is all about spreading love with others, first you have to be— first fill your own bucket, then you can do, right? Similarly, if you're going in a flight, first you have to put your own mask, then, then you can put a mask on somebody else. So thank you so much, Rajesh ji, for sharing your story and your part of the journey. This was so empowering. So thank you so much. And I hope the listeners and viewers are having some fun as we proceed. Let's see, we have— we also have Ranjit. So Ranjit, if you are here and if you want to share your story, go ahead and Haritosh Srivastav, unmute yourself.

Sir, my station is coming, but I'm within 10 minutes, so I will try to finish it in 2-3 minutes.

Sure, yeah, go ahead.

Okay, so it was the time when I was in my college. Okay, so I will say during that time I was having a lot only for studies. As being topper of university, I was having only one thing in mind, that was study, nothing extra. And what happened, uh, my B.Tech was going to end, okay? And there are total 8 semesters, so it was 8th semester. So in 8th semester, I asked one thing. Yeah, Ranjit Singh, this, this is going to end. There should be something different I should try. Okay, so at that time, uh, what I done, uh, it was different. It was totally— I will say audible.

Yeah, you audible.

Yes, yes.

Okay. What happens is that sometimes my image got stuck, so I think signal is not there.

No worries, continue.

Okay, so what I done, what I done, I emailed one message to my colleague, my classmate, other name. And what was going on? And she was replying for the same. And, uh, what, at one time in BCC, uh, in CC, I got written my another mail. From that I got caught that his classmate is doing fun of him. So, so that She always asked me, 'Rijit, why you done it?' So, so that was a little story of my college time, which was something different I tried.

Awesome, awesome. That was a fun— you, you playing around over email with your, with your classmates and having fun. That is so interesting. So I'm very sure we all have done things which we are not proud of, and if you're not comfortable to share Do not share, but thank you for sharing that. This is so fun. I hope you have a good festive time.

Thank you. But at that time, sir, I— thank you so much. Thank you.

No, no, go ahead. You were saying something, complete that.

Uh, I was saying that at that time, uh, I was in— it was around 2002, okay? So emails was very thing, very much new things for at that time, correct? And I was not aware of the fact that if I will reply to all CCD and BCC. So I was not well conversant. So at that time I got caught due to the same.

One mistake lead to you getting caught. Awesome, awesome. I do remember that time, and I, I know because that was the time— how many of you know the term called Orkut? How many had profile on Orkut? I see Rajesh raised the hand. And that was the time, the very first thing that we used to do is when you get on Orkut and you could see that who viewed your profile. And the very first thing people will say, who viewed my profile? And then the Facebook came and then the whole concept gone. And it was so much fun. This reminds me of one more time, and I'll share one more story. And if anybody wants to share another story after that, you can go ahead. And that is about, I like Ranjit, I did my engineering 4 years and The best part of when you are in hostel for 4 years is you get break 4 times in a year apart from the semester breaks. You go on home during Diwali and Holi time. And I remember is on that times, on those times, because the finances was not too much, you get very limited pocket money. Uh, we really will go from our college and we'll go on this this, no, makeup autorickshaw which can hold 50 people. Very dangerous. Now I can't afford, but on, on one autorickshaw, 50 students just holding on to one nail or one, one iron plate somewhere, so that I'm praying that we don't get, uh, get down, otherwise we won't be live. And then we'll go ahead and we'll go to a place called Dadri. I'm pretty sure it's very famous. If not, that's fine. Uh, we'll go there, we'll spend ₹2, go there to Dadri. From Dadri, we'll take another bus which will take another ₹10 and we'll go to that Ghaziabad railway station. And we'll have a student concession pass. And the train used to take around ₹300 from Ghaziabad to my hometown, which was Jaipur. But if you get student concession, you're gonna get around 50% off. So you will get the train ticket in ₹150 or ₹180 if you have the student concession. To get that student concession, will go that big 2 rupees that day or day will act, and then from there will take a bus to go from Dadri to Ghajjawad railway station, and from there will go. And you know what, many a times, you know, this government, uh, that used to be— there were no IRCTC, so you have to physically go on to the train station. And if there is one single extra line on that concession pass they're going to reject you. So you'll again come back, again spend ₹20, come back, get another concession pass, and then go back. And you'll do that. Now it feels like so stupid, but when I think about that, those saving those ₹100 or ₹120 and then spending that for watching a movie or having, having some fun with the friends was not about the money but about the time that you spend with your friends. Now we all are spread different parts of the world. We may have the money when we want to, but we don't have the time. So this is for all of us and for all of you who are watching, that this time is your time. This is the moment that you have. Make sure that you are enjoying to the fullest, you are relishing it. You are, you are making memories that will last long, the lifetime. So remember that. And sometimes we get into this small kinds of thing. Don't get into that. Keep your perspective high. And that was a learning from one of these hindsight things that happened probably 20, 20, 15, 20 years back. So now back to again to the community. Anyone else wants to share any of this quirky, funny little stories? We have a few people over here. Anybody else wants to share any other stories? Okay, let me ask the question then. Who has done the craziest thing during Diwali? Okay, there are so many noble people here, nobody done any crazy thing.

Okay, we are very busy actually.

Okay, busy people. Okay, that's interesting. Busy people don't do crazy things. Okay, so you know, uh, how many of you love to burst crackers? No, I'm not— if you are in Delhi, then yeah, be careful, it's a sensitive matter. But how many of you love to bust crackers? I know there is a— there's some Supreme Court orders, I'm not asking you, but just in case, there is no problem.

During childhood, I really loved it. But nowadays I don't really don't like it.

Yeah, it scares me now. Literally, my neighbor was— some kids were bursting crackers. I just come back and, you know, boom, that came and I was like, oh my God, full shock in my whole body.

During childhood it seems to be like, you know, fun, enjoyment, but now it seems to be that you're disturbing us. If some noise is going on, we are getting disturbed. So don't do it, it's irritating now. So that is there with crackers.

It's so interesting how our perspective change with time, and whatever used to be so much of fun is like, yeah, don't do that, I'm feeling irritated. Awesome, awesome. So any other story anybody wants to share? And for viewers, if you have any story, feel free to put it in the comments. We would love to have that. So last but not the least, the very important aspect when it comes to Diwali, Holi, or any other festival is be safe. The first priority is to be safe. So make sure you are in a safe place, you're taking care of yourself and family, and don't do anything only for the story's sake. Don't do anything which, which might hurt you. Please take care of yourself. Have a fabulous Diwali. Enjoy, have fun, build memories, and most importantly, collect stories, because these small stories can build a big impact. So make sure you are having your story antenna on, because when you go and meet family and friends and, and neighbors and relatives, you will remember some of the stories Make sure you are recording those stories in your story bank because those stories are good. So that's all for today, and thank you so much.