Inspiration

Who is your inspiration? A standard question asked in beauty pageants. The contestants usually have very well rehearsed responses to that question. I myself have found my inspiration in unlikely places...at times when I have least expected it...some celebrities, some not...but been equally inspired by each one of them.



When I was in the 7th grade in school, my English teacher told me she wanted to talk to me. When I went to meet her, she told me she had been reading my essays and she thought I was very expressive. She said she enjoyed reading what I wrote and then suggested I should start writing regularly...poems, stories, basically anything I wanted to. Her only advice to me...Just write straight from the heart just as you do now. My teacher, who introduced me to my passion of writing, is my inspiration.


A few months ago, actor Hrithik Roshan had appeared on a singing reality show. He was asked about his first movie 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai'. He recounted how he had entered the theatre to watch the premiere of the movie with not many people knowing who he was. Three hours later, the movie was a big hit, Hrithik Roshan had become a star, there was a mob scene outside the theatre and he had to be whisked away amidst police protection. The next day the media talked about his overnight success. On the show Hrithik Roshan said...Was it really overnight? Or was it the 10 years of hard work that I had put in before that? That kind of commitment, is my inspiration. As Hrithik mentioned on the show, if you have a passion for something...singing, music, dance, writing....take 15 minutes out everyday to follow that passion...be committed. Today, when I have started writing again, the way I find time for it amidst my busy schedule, is while I am cooking in the kitchen. While dicing the vegetables, sauteing the onions and stirring the gravy, I am thinking about my next blog post. There is now a pen and paper always handy in my kitchen drawer to jot down what I want to write. And even as I wrap up my cooking, the sentences have been formed in my head and my next blog post has been written...and I have spent some time during my day following my passion.


Some years back I had to undergo surgery due to some health issues. That night I shared my room with a 92 year old Spanish lady who had suffered a stroke. She was obviously in pain and kept moaning all night. Next morning, when her daughter came to visit...she came to meet me. She said...Sorry, the nurses told me that my Mom was moaning a lot last night...I know you probably did not get any sleep at all...But thank you for being patient. Then she said...Many people tell me to put my Mom in a nursing home and have someone else take care of her...But I can't let her go...She is my Mom...I will take care of her as long as she is here in this world. That daughter, is my inspiration.


Actress Madhuri Dixit is back in India to judge a dancing reality show. People can't stop praising her...and rightly so. On one show, dance choreographer Saroj Khan who has choreographed many of Madhuri's famous dances, mentioned how Madhuri rehearsed day and night to get the dance steps perfect for her hit song 'Ek do teen'. Even after Saroj Khan told her that she did not need to rehearse any more, she would still refuse to stop rehearsing. That kind of dedication, is my inspiration. No wonder Madhuri has achieved all success today and yes, as is evident on the dance show...when she is called out to give an impromptu dance performance, she remembers all her dance steps even today.


One of my son's teachers from California....a very pleasant and cheerful lady....always with a smile on her face...very well loved by all her students. One week she did not come to school. When she resumed work, she sent a note to all parents explaining the reason for her absence. Her 3 year old son had a problem with his kidneys. He remained sick quite a lot. The past week he had been seriously ill and she was home taking care of him. Looking at her , one would never guess she had so much sadness in her life. Her cheerful and positive attitude, is my inspiration.


Signing off continuing to be inspired in different ways by all the people in my life and this inspiring quote by Reinhold Niebuhr


'God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference'.