Now getting back to main point, did we all forget that Osama bin Laden became a terrorist because he was seeking revenge from the US after what they had done in Afghanistan to win another war against Russia? Was his revenge worth it? He killed 3000 people on 9/11, and instilled this grave fear in all our hearts which made us suspect the next muslim we ran into, or even the turbaned sikh who seemed pretty similar to an average mid-western american.. And we went back after him to seek revenge for 9/11, killing another millions.. So at what point is this cycle of revenge supposed to end? Is this is the purpose of our lives on the earth? To keeping going in these cycles of generations after generations seeking revenge? Today we killed bin Laden, tomorrow who knows in what form their revenge will come back? Is this the point of this life?

I don’t think so, and this also applies to our little ego battles and quarrels with our friends and families.. If one person wrongs you, you set out to avenge it by doing something stupid, and that kicks off this infinite loop of back and forth of ego-driven attacks.. What happened to striving to make peace? Maybe making peace with Al Qaeda sounds impossible to a lot of you, but how about starting with your own brothers and sisters, and friends that you have lost in this ego battle? And what about forgiveness? Even if you don’t believe in any religion, you still know that forgiveness is a virtue and ego a vice. And let me clarify, that I am not preaching, if there’s someone who knows ego, its me.. I have done a lot of stupid things in the rush of my ego that I now regret, but atleast I am trying to change my point of view.. I am trying to end any cycles of ego wars in my life and am reaching out to the ones I lost in this process.. And if I can do it, I have hope that others can too..

Lets get out of this revenge cycle, this ego battle, and embrace the life that we have been given.. Maybe I sound like a hippie from the 70s, but revenge and war will never do any good.. It will continue this cycle forever and we will simply end up being consumed by either getting back at someone, or in the fear of their retaliation.. If there’s anyone that can put an end to this, it is you..

Both books were by the same author Elizabeth Gilbert.. Her best selling book called “Eat, Pray, Love” and “Committed: A Skeptic makes peace with Marriage”.. And they both couldn’t have come at a better time in my life..

With life so busy that I was barely doing things I liked, taking care of myself, or spending time with loved ones, I had begun to question my life.. Did I really want to keep running this rat race for more money and better titles or was it time to slow down and take a different direction.. The fact that I was wrapping up my 20s also had me thinking about where I wanted to be in this upcoming decade of my life..

When I started reading EPL, I loved it instantly.. I have always loved books where the story revolves around a main female character but this was also very relatable.. From her heart wrenching divorce details and agony, to her deciding to take time off to travel, was all so inspiring.. Her time in Italy was so much fun and light hearted, but I think I enjoyed reading about her time in India the most.. And not because I’m Indian, but because I’m quite spiritual.. I have been reading and listening to spiritual teachers for quite some time.. What I found most amazing was how her meditation brought her peace.. That is one thing I have been searching for quite some time.. I feel that I have been consumed by my ambitions and have not been able to ever stop and smell the roses in a while.. On top of that, I feel like I have been holding on to a lot of anger towards some people over the last few years, and I seriously need to get rid of it.. The baggage of this anger, pain for lost friends & family was wearing me down.. And I was looking for some answers.. Anything to help me.. That’s why EPL really worked for me.. Its not like I have started meditating or anything, but I am paving the way in my lifestyle to make room for it.. I am constantly trying to empty my mind now which for some reason doesn’t come easy for me.. Reading about her stay in the Indian ashram really helped me understand the importance of clearing your head. I don’t know if I will ever experience the same high as Elizabeth, but I will definitely try..

“Committed” also came at a great time in my life since my feelings for the Institute of Marriage had been quite negative.. Even though Kunal and I had been dating for almost 2 years and I knew I wanted marriage eventually, I just didn’t know how it would be. I didn’t know if I would be good at it or would it ask for too many compromises off of me. It also made it very difficult for me to picture myself in one since I didn’t grow up seeing many married couples.. And I should also add that I still don’t see many happily married couples around me either. Plus my past experience of coming quite close to a bad one had left me with a very bad taste in my mouth.

In the book, Gilbert starts off by talking about the history of the institution and how it has been controlled and manipulated by the Church and the Government over the last several centuries. But how it still remains the most wanted thing by every human today, whether theirs is a conventional Man-Woman marriage or not.. She also studies marriages all over the world, and really breaks down what marriage really is for each culture.. She never judges anyone in spite of disagreeing with their ways.. She just simply states how it wouldn’t work for her.  My most favorite chapter in the book is “Marriage and Women” because she discusses what role a woman has been playing in a marriage for the last few generations.. Through her interviews, you can see how her role has evolved over the last few decades. She calls today’s modern day marriage as a “Wife-Less” and “Husband-Less” marriage.. That’s because the man and the woman play an equal role.. They both go earn the bucks and also take care of the household. And boy does that make me glad that I was born in this generation..

A month or two after I had finished reading this book, Kunal proposed, and I couldn’t have been happier to have read this book since it freed me of the negativity in some ways and also restored some faith in Marriage. I was able to embrace the engagement with an open heart and truly feel fortunate for having found someone like him..

Another great thing was that it felt like a Gen-Next video, where we saw a lot of the second generation musicians/actors, such as Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan and his sons, and Santoor Maestro Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma with his son, and obviously Amitabh with Abhishek.. It was quite interesting to see that the skills have not gotten lost with the previous generation, but have carried over..

However, I did feel that it was very Bollywood heavy, and was also missing a lot of key Indians, such as Sachin, Dhoni, Dravid.. Which made it waver from the original purpose of the song, which is uniting the several sub-cultures and languages of India, and reminding everyone that we are all Indians first.. With that, I wish everyone a Happy Republic Day, and hope you enjoy the video..

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.