Re-starting with G...D...Am...G...D...C - all over :)

First and foremost, if the title sounds weird, then you probably need to re-visit on of my previous posts - check out my post: Knockin' on Heaven's door - Bob Dylan. Then things will fall in place - I guess... ;-)

Its been last year I started with playing guitar...but could not really practice much more that the bare minimum - and that too kind of faded away as soon as the course ended. In my defense, last year has been one of the most hectic years of my life (or my recent life as least) - believe me, that´s the best excuse I can give as such.

But well, I learned about coursera.org from one of my colleagues and went through the extensive list of courses they come up with...and believe me, this list is just amazing...lots of very interesting courses from some of the most well-known faculties around the world...really it´s very heartening to see internet as a medium of exchanging knowledge. And if this was not enough, it all comes at - absolutely no costs at all...!!! Isn´t it amazing...!!! Sometimes some of the best things do come for free ;-)

So well I explored for some interesting courses and found this one around as well. Just could not resist the temptation to start it - all over again...!

So here I am, ready to start the on with guitar once again...hopefully this time I will persist as well.

Knockin´ on heaven´s door - once again... :-)

All interested in some great courses, do have a look at coursera.org - there is something of interest for everyone... do check it out

Be happy and spread the same around...

Cheers all...

Knockin' on Heaven's door - Bob Dylan

G...D...Am...G...D...C

Umm..."What are you talking about...? Have you forgotten the letters of English alphabet...???" That's what my Language teacher from my primary school would have said...but then the same sequence sounded music to my guitar teacher...! Perceptions...you see :)

Well...the title of this post is really relevant. Today was my first day going for guitar sessions...finally realizing a dream which has been with me (as a dream) for...I don't even remember how long...! And this lack of memory is not because I am too old, but basically it has literally been that long a time :)

Well...this year is all about living my dreams...can't argue with Nostradamus and the Mayans I think ;)

Today, after work I went to attend my first guitar lessons and this was the song that we practiced...and hence the title of the post. By the way, I have always loved this song (though I prefer the Guns n' Roses version of it). So the start could not have been any more perfect...inspiring and motivating...!

Right now, after an hour long session and some practice at home, I cannot feel my finger tips...but then, I can sacrifice that much to realize my childhood dream...a dream that has lived its life as a dream way too long...like a document kept for approval at a Government office :) But yeah, finally it is becoming a reality.

Next 6 weeks will be a bliss...a step towards checking off another TO-DO as DONE from my 2012 checklist.

By the way...I am taking guitar lessons at Norsk Musikk Skole.

Keep rolling...like a rolling stone... :)

GOD bless...and keep the rhythm flowing... G-D-Am-G-D-C 

Oslo - Trondheim - Oslo...Life takes another circle...

Yesterday I watched the movie: My Big Fat Greek Wedding (yeah once again, just about reaching a zillion views by now...) But even now, this one sentence in the movie struck me more than ever before:

"Don't let your past dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you will be..."

Well, our very famous Sherlock Holmes would have said: "That's elementary, my Dear Watson." but then it's normally those elementary things we end up neglecting/messing with. So Mr. Holmes, you should not be mocking Dear Watson... :)

Over the past some time, I have been trying to be someone....someone who I am (probably) not. In the hindsight, I feel that I have done things that I should not have done...! But then, a lot of what I did were based on my past...hence the opening line that somehow struck me.

My year started with a lot of turmoil...things happened in a jiffy. It seemed that everything that could go wrong (or even the ones which I would have never expected to go wrong), went wrong, all at the same time. Nothing seemed to be working then. All that I could think of was: "Why is all this happening to me?" OR "What have I done to deserve this?". It was just about the approach which seemed to be all negative then. It was as if I was standing in front of a mountain and I was just about cursing myself "How the heck did I reach here?" OR "What wrong path I took that I ended up here?" rather than trying to find ways to cross the mountain (somehow)...! I was living in a sea of problems rather than finding/building a boat to get through...!

In the later part of the year, I was at the cross roads...! I had to make some very important decisions....! It had reached a point of frustration (to some extent). Sounds funny now, but I was at a point where I was searching on the internet anything that could possibly motivate me...any inspirational quotes, any special stories...and it was then when I came across this:

"Fears over tomorrow and regrets over yesterday are twin thieves that rob us of the moment"

This was probably my Eureka moment...this was exactly what I was doing...I was worried what would happen when I would be in India (my most probable future at that time) - worried about people, especially so-called 'close relatives', worried about the time that I will have to spend to fetch a good job. To add on to it, I was regretting about what I had been through just a couple of months back (my near past...).

Somehow, this one sentence changed my line of thinking...made me more focused about what I had right at this moment rather than thinking too much about my past and my future. Of course, this is not something I was able to achieve (or rather am still striving to achieve) in a moment of truth, or a day, or a month...but certainly it gave me a much clearer thought process. I was stuck in the deadly loop of past and present (both of which are not in my control) and hence was neglecting my present. It is not as if it changed the situation I was going through then, it just changed my perception towards it.

After a hard year, I can certainly say that my last month has been somewhat more stable...probably GOD planned to end my year on a good note OR probably he just wanted me to realize that we need to work hard to achieve if we want something from our life. Perhaps, it was HIS way of reminding me...just waking me up of the dream run I have been through the year before (2010). I am sure this is not the last time I am going though a rough phase in my life, certainly not (and I hope not)...as true character of a person is tested, not in good times, but in difficult ones.

Seems like it was just now that I came to Trondheim...a place where I knew no one from before...just carried with me a hope and a will (and my couple of bags :) ). Now after two eventful years in Trondheim, after meeting loads of people, and making some friends (a few of whom will stay with me for a long time to come), I am again back to the place from where I started my Norwegian voyage...back to those whose first years in Norway coincided with mine. So my life has taken another circle...back to where it all started...hopefully for the good...but just remember to live in the present...!!!

An optimist...