Don’t be disappointed of yourself

Don’t be conscious or disappointed of who you are or what your surroundings are.  Let not what you are stunt what you want to be. You have the innate potential to improve yourself – oblivious of your surroundings/ comments from people to do better in life for yourself and for your near and dear ones.

About this pic:

1. This pic was taken on Westminster Bridge, London on 30^th Dec 2012. I & my wife had been to London for the New Years and on a crisp, breezy winter evening while walking on the bridge, we saw this gentleman dressed in traditional Scottish wear, oblivious of the surroundings and generating sweet music from the instrument.

2. Lot of tourists and visitors paused for a minute and gathered around him – listening to his music or posing for photographs with him. Jovial that he was, he obliged numerous visitors and continued playing his organ – making the evening magical for all of us around!

Road to Success

The road to success will never be smooth. It will be full of obstacles (stones). In your road to success, you are the lone traveller along the path. Through the enablers you have (like family support, education, support from work/ school) you can decide the obstacles you want to physically/ mentally remove or avoid. It`s your journey and your own personal accountability to make this journey a success.

About this pic:

1. This picture was taken in Feb 2009. With the TCS Toastmasters Club members, we had gone for a day outing to Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP)  in Mumbai, India. SGNP is one of the largest protected forest covers in Mumbai. It encompasses an area of 104 square kilometres and is rich in wildlife, flora fauna and bio-diversity

2. TCS Toastmasters Club had organized trip in conjunction with Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) – which has been promoting the cause of a natural India for over 100 years. Objective of our trip was to not only do team building activities, but also enjoy nature and get educated on it. We went on a long nature trail as a group of 20, and during that trip, this snap was taken.

Think Ahead, do not brood over the Past!

The car windscreen in the front is always bigger than the rear view mirror or the rear windscreen. This is to ensure that you look ahead more clearly than behind. Don’t brood over the past. Pick up the learning`s from your disappointments and failures and look ahead with new rigor, energy and enthusiasm!

About this pic:

1. This pic was taken inside a Taxi while i was in Kolkata, India in August 2012.

2. My work takes me to this magnificent city in the eastern coast of India quiet often. Kolkata is a a blend of modern world with the old world. The city never amazes to give you a feeling of being in the 21^st century and simultaneously being in the British era or even before that (which was centuries before).
3. Most of the taxi drivers in Kolkata are people from neighbouring state of Bihar. Bihar's political climate and job opportunities have forced people to look outside of their home state for their daily livelihood since years. However the scenario is now changing with a stable government and pro development mindset from the current Chief Minister of Bihar - Mr. Nitish Kumar. Years down the line it would be interesting to see who takes up this vacant seat of a taxi driver - the intellectual Bengali or the hardworking Bihari!

March up, keep the tempo on

Each step of the corporate ladder will be full of fun, frustrations and difficulties. As you climb each step (symbolic to spending 1 year in your professional life), you will keep having fun, challenges and difficulties. A lot of times the difficulties and challenges may make you want to climb down the stairs. This is the moment when you hold onto your nerves and continue climbing upwards. You can take a deep breath momentarily, but keep marching up, keep the tempo on! Once you reach the pinnacle of your professional success or career, and as you look back it will all be memorable!

About this pic:

1. This pic was taken during our walk around the City Walls of York in Yorkshire, England, during a cold summer evening in 2012.

2.  York is one of the most famous Roman cities in the UK.
3. There is a blog written on the City of York. To read it, pls click here

Hope is everlasting!

During times of hardships and challenges, never given up on hope. Hope is everlasting and makes you look forward for the light at the end of the tunnel than the immediate darkness surrounding you.

About this pic:


1. This pic was taken during my trip to Frankfurt, Germany in Dec 2010. I had gone to the TCS Frankfurt office for training. On my way back, i was on a train from Frankfurt station to Frankfurt airport.

2. Saw this young man waiting for train on a cold evening. The sun was hidden from the clouds and this man has his eyes and hopes pinned far beyond on the tracks – waiting for his train to escape the chill on a wintery and snowy December evening.

This blog is being published during my train journey between London and Leeds. Heading back after a week in London back to home sweet home!

Tackle the mesh of problems with a constructive approach

Life is like this bridge with tresses - with a mesh of problems around us. If we focus too much on the problems and get worried, we are lost in the maze of problems and find no solution. If we look at the solution for each problem straight ahead and start working towards the same without worrying about the problem and the outcome or end result, we will sail past the bridge to the other side with success at our feet!

About this pic:


1.This was taken during my walk along the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) which runs behind my house in Leeds.

2. The entire TPT is very long and runs across Yorkshire for miles. The stretch outside my house is scenic and a nice walk for 45 mins till the Thwaite Mills Museum. This pic was taken one of the few times i have been here for a walk/ jog / run this summer. I had to then stop going on this path as it was isolated and becoming unsafe with a person from my company getting mugged and hospitalized by miscreants.

Keep Calm and Carry On!

The cloud of uncertainty hovering above you will definitely drift one day. This is when you will be surprised by the fact that even disparate un-resolvable issues also head towards a solution, almost by magic! Hence, during those gloomy days when the clouds loom over your mind, KEEP CALM and CARRY ON!

About this pic:

1. This pic was taken during my frequent official travels between Oslo and Stavanger, while i was in Norway from 2009-2011. The flight journey is not more than 40 minutes, but it takes 4-5 hours to drive (have never tried though!). You can steal such stunning views of the beautiful landscape of Norway even during flight!

2. Of course i had to be patient for the clouds to disappear for the beauty to be revealed! The bridges are connecting small disparate islands in and around Stavanger. It is fun to take ferry’s and go islandhopping to these islands and explore them. Read about one of such trips on this blog - Islandhopping Tau

Green Grass

You say, the grass is always greener on the other side. The grass on your side is greener as well! Just look around to your left, right, behind or front. Wipe those tears of self pity you have accumulated for yourself, blaming the world for giving you the wrong end of the stick. Wipe your tears, straighten your spine and spirit and surge ahead and greenery (symbolizing victory) shall be yours!

About this pic:

1. This pic was taken in Sept 2012 when Meenakshi and I had been to the Lake District National Park in UK with another couple. We were in Windermere and driving towards Troutbeck through one of UK’s scenic routes A592, when this pic was taken.

2. I was at the non driver’s seat, handling the camera while my friend Anurag donned the steering wheel. This capture was just after a drizzle, before the windscreen wipers went out to clear them off. Love the effect of the water droplets on the windscreen...giving it a teary eyed feeling!

Frozen..but undeterred

At times, life throws challenges at you that overwhelm you so much that you are shaken and in dire shock..almost frozen with inaction. During such phases, the least you can do is not let yourself down. Keep your calm and carry on. This too shall pass.

About this pic:

1. This pic was taken in Niagara Falls, United States of Amercia (USA) in September 2005.

2. The pic depicts frozen Niagara Falls. The Niagara Falls was frozen probably once in its entire lifetime. But nevertheless that too passed and it continued flowing...making it one of the most ferocious and equally beautifull waterfalls the world over.

Brooding over the past..don’t repent!

In hindsight, everything looks totally wrong or right to us - be it the decisions we made, the people we met and fought or loved or things we didn’t do but could have done. If we have the right foresight and give the best to our decisions, people, work, relationships day in and day out, we may never repent in hindsight. The travel down memory lane will then be a smooth ride than a bumpy one!

About this pic:

1. It was taken during our trip to Whitby Abbey, north of UK. While travelling back, we had decided to pass through the magnificent “City of York” – the 800 year old city in Yorkshire.

2. The Circle in the background – aptly called the “Wheel of York” gives you a splendid view of the historic city of York – including the York Minster, York City Walls, rivers, railway lines and other landscapes.

3. It is very difficult to visit York and yet not fall in love with it!

Do your thing

Continue doing “your thing” if you believe it is right, even if others are not watching.
Someday somewhere, the moment of truth would strike – for you or for them!

About this Pic:

1. This pic was taken during our trip to the City of Bath ,just outside Roman Baths - the most famous tourist attraction in this city. This city was inscribed as a World Heritage Sight in 1987.

2. The lady playing this instrument in this picture was looking very composed and confident of her capabilities. The sound was very pleasing to the ears amidst the tourists and the delicate carvings and architecture outside Bath Spa. The lady had also kept a CD of her music near her collection basket (used to attract small change from passerby's who like the music), which one could purchase for £5.

3. The city of Bath was first established as a spa with the Latin name, Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") by the Romans sometime in the AD 60s about 20 years after they had arrived in Britain (AD43), although oral tradition suggests that Bath was known before then.They built baths and a temple on the surrounding hills of Bath in the valley of the River Avon around hot springs.Edgar was crowned king of England at Bath Abbey in 973.Much later, it became popular as a spa town during the Georgian era, which led to a major expansion that left a heritage of exemplary Georgian architecture crafted from Bath Stone

Paths to Success

Overcoming your inner challenges in life, can be very much like this picture.

As you climb down the stairs of lethargy, laziness and your own inertia blocking your paths to success (symbolized by the gate), there are multiple pathways that life has in store for you to achieve success. Though these pathways can be in different directions – they will ultimately lead to one goal – a step forward in the right direction for your personal success!

About this pic:

This pic was taken during our short trek to “Malham Cove” at Yorkshire Dales National Park, UK. Me and my wife walked down these last few stairs during our descent to finally finish a well deserved trekking workout and lunch high up in the mountains!

Announcement: New Section/Label PicMotivate

Its high time i started getting active back on this blog. From today, i am introducing a new section under motivation. This would be “Pictures that motivate or PicMotivate”. These pictures have been handpicked from the collection of snaps i have created in the last few years – thanks to the places my job takes me to! The picture would typically be followed by a small paragraph on something related to motivation. Hope this helps us all in some small way to achieve the greater goals in life that we need to achieve.  Comments and Feedback appreciated!