Oblivion

Mundane life made me oblivious of myself
Till the Nightingale whispered in my ears,
The rainbow mesmerised my heart,
The rains purged my soul,
And the stream took my breath away….

Surrogate

Deafening  silence for  delectable laughter,

Naïve pupil for learned mentor,

Cold twilight for warm morn,

Stony hills for fields of corn,

Bestial drought for succouring rain,

Inclement numbness for benevolent pain…

The Unknown Tidings

The young Fella embarked on the journey of thousand miles,

With an empty bag and a thinking mind,

A heart full of hopes and the eyes full of love

Unaware of the tidings that were to come….

The sun bestowed warmth, the rains happiness,

The air breath and the earth life,

It garnered all in its bag and moved ahead

Unaware of the tidings that were to come….

Came along notes to complete the harmony,

It  sounded so good and the soul felt happy,

It garnered all in its bag and moved ahead

Unaware of the tidings that were to come….

Then came a storm annihilating every tone,

The notes were disoriented  and the harmony forfeited,

It garnered the remains in its bag and moved ahead

Unaware of the tidings that were to come….

Moving along came an oasis,

With trees and friends and life galore,

It feared to garner them in its bag and move ahead

Unaware of the tidings that were to come….

Could the fella  prevent the  sun from bestowing warmth,

Rains happiness, air breath and the earth life?

How can then it prevent  facets and souls from coming along?

It garnered them all in its bag and moved ahead

Unaware of the tidings that were to come….

Roses and Lillies

In the puzzle each block plays a crucial role towards the completion of the whole scenery. It is only when the right block pieces are correctly placed that a final picture can be culminated. One block misplaced and the picture is incomplete. Sometimes mistakenly the block pieces from the other puzzle are placed in the puzzle and the picture though looks complete but somehow something looks out of place. But what happens when we knowingly place the wrong blocks from the other puzzle to make our picture complete? Does it really give us the desired scenery? Why did we even think of using the other blocks in our puzzle? To complete the picture that we initially thought was incomplete? To give a new hue to our picture? To experiment if the new block adds an interesting view? Or we wished to dismantle the other puzzle?

Just like the block pieces, every person or relation plays an important role in completing our Life puzzle. Slowly and intelligently putting the pieces together helps us to get the picture of our choice. But often than not it is witnessed that after the creation of the picture, the creator begins to fret. We foolishly initiate our search to add colour, excitement, adventure to our already perfect picture. This Satanic side of us pushes us hard to believe that there is something lacking in the garden of our scenery. Probably our favourite Rose is getting to lose charm. It does not have the same aroma nor the same tinge of red. We now prefer a White Lilly  than Red Rose. The size of the petals a little larger, no thorns and yes a brilliant new aroma. Now if we choose to change the flower out of our brazenness how can the rose be blamed? We may convince the White Lilly  to be a part of our garden but can this new flower  be blamed? We carry the Red rose on our heart sleeves to make the world feel that we are soulmates. But if that is so why choose the White Lilly  ? Why burn our own castle and arrogantly claim that our own hands will not get burnt. If the Rose is being replaced somewhere in your heart, will your heart not feel the pain one day? And yes, what does the White Lilly  do? It sees the world praising the two of you as Soulmates but deep inside it sympathises with the Rose…..what will happen if the Rose comes to know about the real you? It is so very difficult for it to be a witness to this farce and yet remain silent…

We must understand the role each person plays in our life. Anybody who comes in touch with us has to play some part. This part may be comprehensible to us at times and not so comprehensible at other times. They may play a role that we cant even think in our figment of imagination. May be for us that role does not exist in the very first place…but whatever role they play or we choose to play in others’ lives make sure we don’t take the other person’s place. Lets not dismantle the structure already in place. We must carve our new position if we intend to play a role in their life at all.

The garden that you nurtured with angelic hand,

Does not appeal to you any more,

You tempt a new flower as a friend

But don’t let your Rose get sore…..

Reflective Index

“The mirror never lies”, so it is believed. It reflects what is positioned in front of it. But suppose somebody artificially created something and then placed it in front of the mirror, what is the end result? The true reflection or the desired reflection of artificiality?

Many times we all are at cross roads. Cross roads compel us to be decisive no matter we like it or not. We have to decide. But is decision making such an easy process? There are enumerable factors to be considered, the pros and cons, subjectivity, objectivity, emotions, relations, near and dear ones, the not so near and dear ones, its overall impact …..Here one is pushed into thinking why one is where one really is.

Self reflection automatically comes into play. We start looking for answers to several perturbing questions. In the process of finding answers we encounter more never explored questions pertaining to our life. Its like opening a Pandora's Box. You are searching for something and you get your hands on something else which you had forgotten ever existed. This leads to a travail of other questions. In the hunt we actually forget what we had started to search at first place. So is this complex web….

The beneficial outcome of this is we realise that what we are today is a culmination of various activities we performed in this play of life. Various roles we delivered, some successfully others lamentingly bad. Some with utmost sincerity others with farce. Some that gave happiness to others and others that gave perpetual pain and sorrow. In the drama of things other characters too had  similar roles and impact on us. Those we thought were ours disappointed us to the hilt and those we thought had no place in our lives gave us peace beyond words.

Why do we fail to perceive people as they are good as good and bad as bad? Why do we fail to give importance to those who are here to play important roles in our lives and ignore those who will only give pain? Has this been done intentionally by the Director of this play? Why do we have to learn lessons the hard way? Why is the script open ended?

The answer probably is that that is the beauty of life. It is here that lies the mystery, curiosity and urge to lead our lives. Only outlines are provided we have a choice to fabricate a circle, square, cube ,rectangle, triangle etc out of these lines. We create squares expecting the outcome to be a circle and this trial and tribulation continues through out the journey. It is only through wrong creations that we realise what corrective measures to be taken to get the outcome of our expectations. But hold, the Director also intervenes several times and throws pleasant surprises at us. A gentle breeze that blows through our hair on a sweaty summer noon, the warm sunbeam on our shivering skin, the cool refreshing rain drops on a wounded soul, friendly smiles to a broken heart and helping hands when there was none.

Reflection is the antidote for all sufferings. We must reflect on our lives as often as we can. This self reflection helps us to have a flash back of this journey. We conclude what we did and what we should have done. This helps us to elevate ourselves to a higher plane. It acts as a guard for our future course. We may not be able to be in complete control of life but definitely we can make amends. We can make an effort not to repeat the same kind of mistakes. Whatever we do make sure that in the end the scenes put together make a story worth telling!

The Muddle of Life

The Muddle of Life

The thirst for knowledge they say is unquenchable.This thirst makes you feel like a traveller stranded in a desert….Desert which is surrounded by oceans of books, literature and texts.You may ignore this thirst for sometime but it is difficult to never realise it at all….And once you realise it, it makes you restless.You feel so ignorant, so uneducated, so helpless.The search for knowledge makes you feel like a wanderer who is on the path to destiny without knowing what the destiny is, where it lies.The path to knowledge gives so much satisfaction..You feel one with the universe, one with its every particle created by the Almighty….You realise that you are a mere speck in the vast galaxy, a mere iota…..

In our ignorance we create illusions about ourselves. “We are scholars in our field”, there cannot be bigger  mirage than this. We are so engrossed in our daily struggle for existence our family, our work, our friends that we forget why we are here. To complete the circle of life, very definitely yes. But in our struggle lets not forget to discover and explore our selves. We may say that the fight for survival leaves no room for anything else. But is that really so? Is that all this life has to offer to us?

The answer is NO! life throws a lot of things at us and we pick and choose our own gifts. During our entire journey from infant to child to teenager to adult we keep accumulating what we should infact be releasing. The pains, sorrows, grudges, loneliness, deceit, cheatings, wounds are all gathered by us and kept within us in safe custody. We refuse to let go………

And when we are so piled up as individuals can the universe be at peace. No, definitely not. We then complain that there is so much violence and bloodshed in the world. Nothing seems to be at peace…but how is this possible? We all are the particles that complete the Universe. When the parts are not in harmony how can the whole be at peace?

Peace and serenity can be ushered in by raising our selves to a higher level of consciousness. Forgetting all the past experiences and aiming for what we want, treading on the path to self realisation. The first step in all probability is the path of knowledge. The Higher Powers have intentionally created a void in our souls and sent us here. Our utmost objective should be to fill that void with something that is meant for it. And if we put a sincere effort to ask ourselves what it is, the answer no doubt is Knowledge………….

The Hearty Heady conversations

We all have had those perplexing moments when the Heart says one thing and the Head says just another. The body seems to be like a State where the Head and Heart are at Civil war with each other. But war it is and in either case the State consequently suffers. Where does it all begin and end? Yes, I mean the civil war.

When a Child sees a Chocolate:

Head: No Baby, you cant have this! You have already gulped in a dozen. Mamma wont agree to this.

Heart: Go on…its just a chocolate….one more will do no harm and then no one is watching. So quick!

And the innocent child gives in to the temptation. Looks left and right, unwraps the chocolate and in a jiffy the chocolate is done. Aah!

When a Teenager sees a beautiful Damsel:

Head: No Teens, you cant look at her like this! She is your best friend’s girl. He wont agree to this.

Heart: Go on….its just a harmless glance…one more will do no harm and then no one is watching.And yes, you know how innocent your friend is.So quick!

And the servile teenager gives in to the temptation. Looks left and right, focuses better and in a jiffy the complete body X-Ray is done. Aah!

When a Twenty something sees a Bottle of liquor:

Head: No, Tweens, you cant have this! You have already quenched two pegs. Your parents wont agree to this.

Heart: Go on…its just a drink….one more will do no harm and then parents are not home. They will never know. Your friends are all on the binge. And yes, your buddy will drive you home back safely. So quick!

And the spirited tween gives in to temptation. Looks left and right, slurps the watery tongue and in a jiffy the peg is done. Aah!

When a Thirty something sees a friend’s Merc:

Head: No, Man, you cant be spitting inside the car! You have gutkha in your mouth. Your friend wont agree to this.

Heart: Go on…its just a spit…one will do no harm and then no ones watching. It can be cleaned easily. And then you wont open the window glasses and let the polluted air in. So quick!

And the concerned  friend gives in to temptation. Looks left and right, thooooooooo and in a jiffy the spit is done.Aah!

When a Forty something texts an independent woman employee:

Head: No, Bloke, you cant be texting her! You have a wife, two kids. Even SHE wont agree to this.

Heart: Go on…its just a simple text…one will do no harm and then no one is watching. You can always delete it. And yes you are not cheating, it’s a friendly text. So quick!

And the friendly Boss gives in to temptation. Looks left and right, Presses Send….and in a jiffy the text is done. Aah!

When a Fifty something sees a Child’s future:

Head: No, Man you have to save for the education of your child. She wants to pursue higher studies abroad. You cant buy an expensive i-phone for yourself. This money will go for the policy.

Heart: No, you cant buy i-phone. You want to fulfill your child’s dreams. Policy is important and then your Nokia is doing just fine!

And the caring Parent gives in to temptation. Looks left and right. Leaves the shop when no Sales person is watching. And in a jiffy the policy premium is done.Aah!

When a Sixty something sees a Child married:

Head: No, my child will definitely take care of me with my Bahu. They understand how much I have done for them.

Heart: Definitely yes, He is my son. He will love me even more now since I am retired. He knows I need him more now.

 And the emotional Father gives in to temptation. Looks left and right.Leaves his own house for the son’s only to be sent back soon by the Obedient Son and Bahu. And in a jiffy the tears are done. Aah!

When a Seventy something sees grand children:

Head: No, old man, they are better than even you. They sure are a genius. They love you and will  come for the Diwali Vacations.

Heart: Very Sure yes, they are my grand children. They love home food, crackers, the roses in my garden and the big lawn. They will come.

And the teary eyed grand father gives in to temptation. Looks left and right. Leaves for the market and on the way gets a call that no one is coming. They are going to Disney World instead. And in a jiffy the tears and emotions are done.Aah!

When Eighty something sees loneliness:

Head: No, old haggard, they will not come. They are busy. Office, children, home, malls…who has the time.

Heart: Very sure, no they will not come. They love their friends, Movies, Foreign trips. Who has time for you worthless skeleton!

And the empty mind and empty heart give in to temptation. Look left and right. Leave for the heavens. And in a jiffy the soul is done. Aah!