Does maturity comes with age?

Today, we had an interesting point to ponder upon in Church. Does maturity comes with age? I believe maturity is something which is regardless of age. Often I meet people who are young and they display a terrific level of maturity in dealing with things. While on the other hand, people with good experience that of course comes with the years they have spent, show signs of immaturity. Age and maturity may not always come hand in hand. I feel I was much more mature when I was young. :) Not that I am very old now but I often feel that I am immature and incompetent to handle situations today in comparison to when I was in my late teens and early twenties. Life used to be simple at that point in time. I had the understanding to keep it straight and avoid making it complicated, be it relations, finances, job etc. etc. I wonder if maturity is something that is a continuous process. Once had, does always have? Naah...! Not my experience suggests so. Where has my maturity gone then? I have lost it somewhere and have to find it now! Wish it comes with age. Had it been so, will definitely have it by my next birthday.

A blessing in disguise

The three day trip to Virat Nagar, a small block of Jaipur, began on Tuesday. After a four hour drive from Delhi, we checked in at Hotel Highway King on NH-8. The day was hot and humid and tiring and seemed to never end. I was accompanied by a group of students from Japan who flew to India to visit the villages being benefited by Lighting a Billion Lives project.

It is said that the Pandavas spent their exile in this region. At that time, the region was ruled by King Bairat. He supported the Pandavas during their troubled times in exile. Thus came into being Bairat Nagar which later became Virat Nagar!

The day ended with a few meetings and visit to one of the villages in the block. I have been working in this part of the country since past one year. Enveloped by the Aravali range, the beauty of these villages was yet to be discovered.

Overcast skies with light showers cheered back to us as we opened our eyes next morning. Work was what drove me to this part of the land. But, it was a unique blend of work and fun. After having breakfast we started for the 30 km long drive to the villages.

It was raining the whole day and it was same for the next two days. I enjoyed the natural beauty all through my way to the field work and continued to feel the nature throughout the day. It was indeed a blessing in disguise.

Reaching out to the unlit

Every time I leave for a village, I am filled with the same sense of enthusiasm. Reaching out to the grassroots is a wonderful experience. Once again I will be in a place which would be so different from the cities. I am used to see lights all over, once the sun sets in. For the next three days, light will be something, I will see only after I return to my Hotel on the Highway. As part of my job activities, I would be spending next 3 days in 4 villages located about 30 kms off Delhi-Jaipur Highway. The only source of light in these villages, is kerosene and other conventional sources of lighting. Once the sun goes down, women are busy with their household activities and children with their studies but in a light under which one can hardly see anything. The first time I sat under the light of a kerosene lamp, was to speak to an elderly who was bed-ridden. Believe me,the fumes from these lamps had completely choked me. I was forced to think. I was unable to spend even 10 minutes there. And look at these people who have seen no other light than these since generations.

There are 67 million people in India who do not have access to any modern sources of lighting and are dependent upon kerosene. And with every passing day, my belief gets stronger in the fact that mere development of cities is not an indicator of a country's well being. There is much more to it. There is much more that we can do to ensure well being of our community in a sustainable manner. The need is to find solutions.

The other side of me

Today is a strange day. I discovered the other side of myself. I often thought it doesn't really matter much to me how I feel for others. Espescially when the 'others' are professional counterparts. Today we bid farewell to a colleague, whom I know since past one year. She was my mentor. Frankly speaking it was never a mentor-mentee relationship. Things did not work the way they should have been. Yet, I thought to myself, as always, how does it matters anyway. After one year, as we wished her gud luck, I knew something was hurting me.

Today indeed was a strange day!