Simple yet profound

I asked him it's been so long, do you still love her? Do you still feel the same way?

He said, "I don't know if I still love her. It may not be the same. But I know one thing, I feel happy when I talk to her:"

It was the most simple answer and yet I got to know everything I wanted to. Love is too simple yet we make it so complicated. :)

Maslow, you made me think!

So, I was in Goa last week. Yes Goa, for a vacation. Yes, with friends. And now you can go green with envy :D. I just love Goa, I have spent 4 best years of my life there and I am still head over heels in love with it. Actually, probably its not Goa, its the sea, the beach, the sand, the waves, the sun, the stars, the wind and all of it together with friends which makes me go week in my knees. Recreate this setting anywhere and I will be as satisfied as a well-fed puppy. Oh, and this reminds me what I really intended to write about. Most All of my MBA friends would have read about the famous Maslow's theory of needs and all most wouldn't remember it, not all the stages at least. Frankly, even I didn't. But now I have read about it in-depth. And you'll ask me why especially since BS is the least read/remembered/bothered about course in the whole of MBA.I'll tell you why 

Lets rewind to last week.

Place: Vagator Beach (the secluded part)

Time: Twilight. Just post sunset

Date: Don't really care

Scene: The wind was blowing hard and ruthlessly. The tides in the sea were so haphazard it felt like it was playfully teasing me and following wherever I went. The sun had left the scene, leaving behind a sky so pink, you'd wonder if God was gay. The stars were already all over the sky. And, of course, how could I forget the cashew-like moon glowing proudly as if it had reclaimed its kingdom back from the sun. (Fyi: Cashew's a Goan specialty, if you didn't know already). The sand was blowing in all directions, a thin film was deposited on our bodies. I apologize for going too much into detail and hence taking time to come to the point, but trust me, its essential. Unless you can feel even a bit like how I felt that day, you will not be able to appreciate my new found respect in theories far left behind. I forgot to mention my second love - my music (First love being beaches if it isn't so clear yet) We were an assortment of five friends; and I say assortment because each one of us is so very different and were especially in a very different thought sphere. In the midst of all this, I felt like I am the most satisfied person on earth. No worry in the world. In fact, I remember my mind was clear, empty, devoid of any thought or feeling, when I was walking along the shoreline with my phone and just one line playing repeatedly on my mind - Look at the stars, look how they shine for you. (Yellow by Coldplay). This is surprising because it rarely happens with me. I am a thinker, I cannot stop thinking no matter how hard I try. I find it difficult to sleep immediately as I lie on my bed however tired I am, since my brain doesn't just let me! Anyway, so as learned men say, I was in a state of meditation. That's when I remembered the self-actualization stage - the fifth stage in the Maslow's hierarchy of needs. (Yes, I eventually started thinking) I couldn't feel hunger or cold (though I should have!) I did not feel scared of the waves. I did not bother how late it had  become. Moreover I did not care, what xyz thought about me or what my friends were upto. It was all pointless. I just wanted to be with me. Do nothing. This was self-actualization state for me. Or possibly a step ahead, if there's  even something above that! 

Maslow says, only when your needs in the earlier stages, namely, physiological,  safety, belonging, esteem are met, you can reach the last stage of self-actualization. It surely didn't go that way for me. It can be argued that none of these things, I was in dire need of. I had had a meal sometime in the morning, I was wearing clothes, not enough to guard me well but surely I wasn't shivering in cold. I did not care about people, because they were my friends and hence I could feel the way I felt. But, there have been numerous saints in our Indian history who have been able to rise over all this. So its not impossible. Maybe there's more to it than the theory so simply narrated to us.

Even though it seems like, I am confused, I am actually happy about the fact that yes, its possible to rise beyond certain things or people and feel absolutely light even when there are thousand problems around you. :)

PS: Do listen to Yellow - Coldplay. Its soothing.