Let happiness pursue you and not the other way around.

Happiness is something that cannot be put into a mere few words, it's not merely an expression but a feeling that rejuvenates you to do just about anything and everything - achieve what you felt was tough, seize what you felt couldn't be seized and see out the true potential in yourself.

It's very rightly said that a 'happy sate of mind, is a healthy body' and this is all the more true in today's highly competitive world, where smiling and being happy has become a luxury to cherish.

For me, happiness is measured not in terms of money or financial stability but in the little laughs and the smiles that I get from my family in whichever way I make them happy - it can be a rs5 ice-cream for my son, a 20rs gol gappa for my wife or a dinner at a good restaurant costing rs500 that means the world to my family and the happiness I see on their faces cannot have a price - it's simply priceless.

We often fail to understand the real sense of happiness that we get. Sometimes, we pursue after things that we believe can make us happy but they never do; and we sense that we somewhere failed to gain happiness but happiness is truly in the joy of spending time with your family, 'a happy family, is a happy life'.

Even the smallest of the things that you do for your family brings happiness to you. Think about it; when you hand over your salary to your parents, it's not the amount of the salary that brings a smile to your parent's face but the gesture of yours to hand them your first salary which brings upon a sense of happiness of their face.

Similarly, when you gift your mom a saree or take your family out for a dinner; they do not see the amount you pay but the happiness they get in spending time with you - this truly is the essence of being family.

I for one, find happiness in the smallest of the things. Taking a surprise day off from work and taking my family to a film, followed by lunch and ice-cream is for me the ideal way to make my family experience the joy of "happiness" and moreover, life is all about such moments filled with happiness.

In a nutshell; do not pursue something overboard to gain happiness, just look around and you'll find happiness in the most smallest of the things. Do not judge happiness by money but judge it by the joy that it gives to you or the people around you.

Happiness after all is anything that brings a smile to your face or the faces of your family members or friends - be happy, let happiness pursue you and not the other way around.

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Live in the moment : fill each moment with optimism

The joy of fatherhood is such that every moment that you spend with your child is truly bliss and full of energy, memories and moments to cherish for throughout your lifetime.

I got to experience the joy of fatherhood after the birth of my son, the feeling of becoming a father was overjoying, I couldn't believe that life had taken this amazing new turn and I couldn't have been happier. I wanted to follow the examples of my father and become a similar role model to my son.

After becoming a father, I felt a great deal of responsibility on my shoulders, I had to be the perfect example of my son, I had to provide him with all the necessary luxuries of life, proper education, a roof over his head and a future strong enough to sustain in this world, both in terms of financially and knowledgeably.

I remember that when my son hit the age of 5, he got fascinated with the game of cricket. Understandably, my whole family is that of cricket lovers and he saw everyone around him following every match of cricket and he naturally got interested in the game. On the weekends, he would request me to play a cricket match with me and I'd be very happy to. Just like every father, I saw a great talent in my kid i.e. of a good cricket, at the age of 5, he had immense potential and was absolutely marvelous to watch. Each weekend that I spent with him was filled with great memories and gave me optimism that with my son, each moment spent is worth cherishing.

I also realized that as the father, it's my duty to ensure that I never pressurize him to do something that he doesn't want to. In this case, if he wants to play cricket - he should but I must not force him to train in the sport, as he may not necessarily like it. But I did come into terms with the fact that regardless of whichever field my son chose in future, he'll truly be successful and will always follow the path of ethics and principles and never compromise upon it to achieve success, that's the values I instilled in him and that's what optimism is; having hopes for the future.

It was through my son that I too got the optimism of living the life the way it's meant to be. I saw my 5 year old kid seizing the moment and playing the game of cricket with full concentration or when at home; he'll be drawing, his full concentration would be on the out-sketches and to ensure that the colour doesn't cross the outer-lines of the portrait. It helped me realize that how importance it is to focus in the moment and not think too much ahead into the future; concentrate on what's in front of you and that filled me with optimism to seize the day and make the most of it.

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Coming over my fear and deciding to #StartANewLife

It's a basic human nature that we're all afraid of something or the other, each one of us has felt as to how "fear" has stopped us several times in life from being able to #StartANewLife.

I've had one such fear in myself which became a great obstacle in my life and didn't allow me to live this life the way I wanted to i.e. the fear of driving. For someone like me, who has to often travel 100-200 KM for office work purposes, taking a bus or metro isn't always the most speedy or the safest of the options but just till 8 years back, I had this fear in me that didn't allow me to drive, I was too afraid to learn driving.

It wasn't until my boss told me one day "imagine yourself 20 years from now, when you'll start looking back at your working days and start thinking - should I have learned driving, would that have perhaps made my life a little more different! Was driving a passion or a desire of mine that I could fulfill but didn't take the necessary steps to fulfill!" and at that time it hit me - it's time to #StartANewLife. Enough of being afraid, it's time to choose the path of courage, one that leads to the success of a goal that I had in life i.e. to learn to drive.

Initially, the idea to #StartANewLife sounded easier than done, I was having great troubles in learning how to drive. Sometimes I'd forgot to press accelerator and my legs would go instead on pushing the breaks and sometimes; I'd forget to change the gears - the start to a new life, wasn't the most ideal one but things change "if you're willing to change".

It was my nephew who grew in front of my eyes who taught me how to drive and made me learn all the easy ways to remembering, for instance "ABC" i.e. accelerator, break and clutch.

The point of the above story is to highlight as to how certain choices in life help us to shape the way we live life and inspite us to #StartANewLife. It's about coming out from the old to the new and finding a new perception towards living life, not just the way it should be lived but the way YOU want to live it, by seizing the moment and standing upon your true potentials.

In the above story, I had the choice of either living my life without seizing the moment and learning how to drive or seeking the advice of my boss and overcoming my fear and willing to #StartANewLife, a  life where I learned how to overcome a great fear and not just that; but also learn how we can change the way we live the life, only if we're ready to "take the necessary steps".

So then, that's my story of when I decided to #StartANewLife.

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Pampers dry pants : Happy Toddler, Happy Parents

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For every parent, the first priority of theirs is to always ensure that their little kid (regardless of how old he/she gets – for a parent, their child is always a kid) is always in comfort.

More so for parents of little toddlers, the experience is one that’s unmatched and full of learning’s but it comes with difficulties too. How to ensure that the little toddler has a peaceful night sleep after having a very tiresome day! How to ensure that the little toddler doesn’t wet the bed and has a comfort sleep in a dry bed! Well, the answer to all that is pampers.

To start off, my son when he was 5 months old – loved it whenever I hid behind a wall and surprised him everything by making a scary face and the smile on his sweet little face was priceless but I also remember when he used to cry at nights after wetting the bed and that as a father, was very trouble to see for me and that’s when we started using pampers.

Pampers is not just about ensuring that your baby is dry but also ensuring that the little toddler has a good night’s sleep which is so essential early in a new born baby’s life, a proper night’s sleep is an absolutely necessity.

Moreover, it’s only after a good night’s sleep that the little toddler wakes up happy and fresh the next day; and is ready to laugh and enjoy. I remember that since we started using pampers; my son used to wake up in the mornings with a smiling face. Earlier however after having a wet night and crying, he’d naturally be quiet and not in a jolly mood the next morning.

It’s very rightly said that a “dry baby is a happy baby” – after all, which parent wouldn’t want their little toddler to be full of energy and happiness. I still remember the memories from my son’s toddler years, when he’d grasp my finger, run out the terrace, play cricket (at least try to), drive his toy car, stare at the tv whenever his favorite song came on and in fact, be a little amazed with the world of technology and him being impressed was very much visible from his happy face.

The new pampers dry pants ensures for the dryness of the baby on the inside. It’s the magical gel lock of pampers dry pants which locks the moisture so that the baby’s skin remains dry and healthy for upto 12 hours.

It’s the trust on pampers that’s been with us for years and has definitely given every parent joyous moments with their little toddler. It’s very much fitting to say that a “dry baby is a happy baby” and with pampers, a happy toddle, is a happy parent.

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Optimism : even the most difficult challenge, becomes easy

I've always been someone whose been optimistic towards life but there are moments where your spirits take a toll because of the hardships of life, I felt one such moment when I was going through a tough phase in my job and my son was about to be born.

The pressure of growing up a kid, dedicating a good portion of time and office-  juggling between the two and of course; providing the family with a lifestyle that they relish is the dream of every bread-earner and they were my priorities too.

I remember talking to my parents about this and asking them whether it's going to be a very big challenge and they just used to smile at me and say "it's gonna be fine". My dad told me that every father goes through these concerns but you just have to be optimistic because the new born baby guides you to new ladders of happiness and you'll realize it yourself, that the young toddler will bring about a smile on your face, even when you come home from the office after having the most tiresome of the days.

At that time it all sounded confusing but it wasn't till my son was born that I actually felt all this. In the initial few months of my son's birth, I remember that everyday before I took off for the office, I'd go to my room and watch him sleep very closely, sometimes my son would open his eyes and look at me "that sure was the best feeling in the world".

At office whenever I felt that a challenge was thrown at me or just that the working was becoming very tiresome and difficult, I'd think of my son and for some reason; I'd always feel so optimistic about myself, as if I could cross any obstacle that came in my way.

I remember one day, when my son was 1 and a half years old. I came back from the office, having worked for 14 hours. I was very tired and just felt like sleeping. I was naturally so tired that I couldn't even bear to talk to someone but as I rang the bell at home and my son came at the door on his small toy scooter and shouted "papa papa", I just couldn't help but smile and laugh which filled me with tremendous amount of energy and it was at this moment that I had the realization that it's my son that's going to fill me with optimism and hope for the future whenever I feel down, it'll be my son who I can talk to as a friend - which we are, as now he's 17 and today, it's indeed my son that fills my life with optimism and backs me to overcome any and every challenge.

I'm definite that every parent can connect with this blog post because we've all experienced this. If optimism is about a belief of setting out to achieve even the most impossible task; then we've all had our children inspiring us to set about trying to accomplish that task, which in the way; fill our life with great hopes for the future. :)

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Being self-reliant : basic principle of life

I've learned from my father that life must be lived with this principle - "do not expect anything from others, always try to stand on their expectations". This very principle of life apprehends as to how my father has instilled in me the principle of always standing on the expectations of others, always thinking of others betterment first before mine (not being selfish) and always ensuring that I stand on the expectations that my father has from me.

My father was a civil engineer, someone who put in really extreme hours of hard work to provide food on our table. Be it summers, raining or chilly winters, I always saw my father being dedicated to his work and never making any excuse to take a day off. Even when he had the option of supervising the construction from home, he always preferred to go on the sight and work with the builders there.

Another very important thing that my father taught me was to respect people who worked for us - drivers, servants, maids, security guards. I remember when I was 6 years old, I called our driver by his name and my father instantly told me "Munnu, bad manners", call him bhaiya and give him respect. At such young age, he instilled such principles and values in me that I standby even today and have tried to instill the same values in my son.

Having 4 sons, I'm definite that my father often had financial troubles and to my shock; even in the most dire of the times, he never told us about his problems and always provided for our luxuries. Even though we as brothers understood the kind of financial background we had but sometimes we did ask for money and NEVER did I hear my father say "NO".

My father has taught me to be self dependent "Apne Dum Pe Jeeyo", one of the basic concept of life. It's because of being self dependent that today, I'm able to lead a life of dignity and have a life in which I can walk with my head held high and not only me, I hope that standing by the principles and ethics my father instilled in me, I've made him proud too.

Apne ko apne dum pe jeena sikhao - these words stand very true to my father, who has always taught me and my brothers to be self-dependent and it's because of the values he instilled in me that I'm to lead a life of principles in today's competitive world, where people are often tempted to compromise on principles to climb the ladder of success.

Therefore I say, it's because of my father's mantra of "apne dum pe jeeyo" that I've become self-reliant and these are the very values that must be instilled in future generations.

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