The road not taken..

"Two roads diverged in a wood,
and I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference"
Robert Frost(1874-1963),"The road not taken"

These are the lines written by the famous american poet Robert Frost.
What's so special about these lines, that they form a part of most of the motivational works... What does he mean by the two roads?Why does he take the one less travelled and how does it make all the difference?
We human beings take each step with care , tread each path with caution, so that we do not have to face failure, since history tells us that those who venture into the unknown, are the ones who tend to get lost most of the time. But unfortunately, we forget to flip the page , where it says that those who take risks in life are the ones who are successful.
One cannot just keep following what other people do, so that we can indulge in a safe bet with nothing to lose. Someone among us has to venture into the unknown and has to take up the task to spread the light of knowledge, for many others to follow . One has to enter the dark areas of life which need to be lighted up. One brave step would surely make all the difference.
Frost wrote "the road not taken", for his friend Edward Thomas. He said while walking in the woods, they would come to different paths and after choosing one, his friend would always fret, wondering what they might have missed by not taking the other path.This is the kind of curiosity life needs from all of us....for instance,"What would have happened if instead of taking all the credit, I would announce that my teammates played an important part in the successful completion of the project".
If we try to think beyond our so called limitations, life opens a lot many avenues for us .
There are many who don't give a second thought before getting themselves involved into something which they very well know is harmful for them.A person may start smoking without giving it a second thought, but if asked to be a prt of some voluntary work, he/she would rubbish the idea by saying that its a pure waste of time. The less travelled roads of our life might seem a bit thorny in the beginning, but when one decides to take them up and travel through successfully, life becomes worth living.
The lines of the poem are a bit tricky, they can be seen from different perspectives. The choices that we make in life do make all the difference, it also depends on the kind of choices we make.This ones for those who see the glass half full, coz they have a strong belief that the choices that they have made , would take them towards progress.
Treading unknown paths is certainly not about doing something wrong, its just about thinking differently. If our freedom fighters would not have thought differently , they would not have been able to motivate the whole nation to follow the path towards freedom...which too was an unknown path."We cannot know how our choices will affect our future, until we make a choice".
Most of us think that life should be lived according to certain set norms, which is something that cannot be denied, since discipline too forms an essential part of our life, things can be achieved without indiscipline or chaos. But there has to be someone to challenge the myth that the world is not flat, but round, otherwise we would keep falling at the two ends of our limited beliefs, without taking a single foot forward.

Life isn't easy,
its not all that tough,
but at the time of crisis,
it becomes a bit rough.

Though I lead my life,
according to what was carved out for me,
keeping in mind, the limitations , the taboos , the adversities.
But sometimes my mind looks towards the road less taken,
a strange unknown path.
Is there something waiting for me,
have I found my goal at last?

Though the path is unknown, and the steps are weak,
I Can't afford to look the other way,just because my spirits are meek,
There will be a time when I'll be able to step forward,
plunging,dropping, tumbling towards my goal,
and that's when I'll reach my destination,
like a happy,contented soul :)

An eye on one and all

Some people love to talk, they put in such effort in talking, that it turns them into great orators of everyday life. Such talkaholics can be encountered anywhere and everywhere, the best thing about them is that they are great time killers, you never get to know when your time has bid you goodbye and made its way out of your life while you were busy listening to the moving mouth uttering loads and loads of words, sans punctuation.....specially a great lack of a full stop.
But its a fact for sure that God has made a balanced world, with silence on one end and a flow of words on the other. I know of a couple who are a fine example of such a balance struck by God. The master of the house is a man of a few words.......very few indeed, he believes in monosyllabic verses, while the lady loves to breath on varied utterances, until and unless someone volunteers to put a full stop to them (she is the real master indeed, winning each verbal war time and again)......... the mouth opens and a storm is released till the nerves of the listener's brain breath their last.
I think life would have been tasteless if there was no one to make it a bit more spicy, its remarkable how a simple incident is presented in such a decorative manner by our talkaholic friends, that by the end of the narration you wish that you were a part of the scene, which in reality is nothing but a "nothing" blown out of proportion.Until its a harmless talk it seems a great piece of art, but once a wholly of blows enter the scene , one should be wise enough to make a move, discouraging the act of putting an absent party on the fire of words. For instance until the beauty of ms. so and so's house is being discussed, one can be a part of the discussion, the minute the discussion comes onto the deserving factor (if the person in question deserves it or not) one must be wise enough to take a flying leap. That's called real life editing:)a healthy way to live and let live.
Well that's life, a bit sweet and a bit sour.When we are in the right frame of mind we tend to appreciate things and try not to judge them, but when we tend to blow out of proportion, "God save the world".
Everything is interesting and worth noticing if we have a cool mind and a thirst to observe life. By the end of the day it really helps, we get to know how God made each indiviual unique, uniquely explorable, with a touch of elements that each one of us share in small or big proportions, its just that we tend to make ourselves so aloof that we are never able to explore what lies within, let alone around us.
Sometimes just noticing people makes us realise our faults and helps us to make amends, so that we atleast are not seen in a similar situation.
I believe that there is something special in all of us, something worth noticing, its just a matter of giving it a thought:)

And the mood swings....

Its all clouded, the warring teams are like the two corners of life, beginning and the end, one of the team is negative, all black with not a single shade of grey and the other , pure white, as the river with clear crystal water, soothing and smeared with the positive….. and there’s something that swings in the middle, an undecided mind, clouded with apprehension but sometimes when the wind blows in the right direction, its all positive, blooming with joy.
The black team has a power of its own, it can be dominant any time it wants…………………but not without a license, a license that we provide our mind towards a state of either sadness or joy.
A splashy gulp of cold water and the match comes to a halt, a match which is a war between the two parties of our mind, the negative and the positive. Our mind depends on the one that comes to power. It’s like the government, theres a ruling party and an opposition, but the same way we have the power to choose our government, we also have the power to control our mind.
Why do mood swings happen? They happen because our mind gets bounded by any one of the two emotions. When positive thoughts are dominant, thats when a spark appears in our eyes, we are ready to face the world however messy it may be and the shine on our face reflects the stream of clear crystal thoughts. But what happens when the swing of our mind tends to go in the wrong direction, that’s when calamity strikes, the easiest thing in the world becomes impossible, relationships become a burden, everything falls under the shadow of darkness.
We are responsible for conditioning our mind, life is tough for each one of us, but however rough the road may be, a car with good shock absorbers always makes the journey pleasant.
Therefore stop the jerks from causing harm, mould yourself in such a way that you are able to fill up and jump across each hurdle in your life. I know it isn’t easy, but who said life was easy, every good thing has its price, its in our hand to make the best possible use of it.
So, whenever next time the swing of your mind moves towards the negative, gather a team of fond memories to push it towards the right direction, and preserve and be thankful for the good things in your life, coz that’ll make you realize how strong you are.
Be the one to rule your mind , don’t let it take over you, coz the positive should always be in power.

Listen to your heart

Whats that sound all about?Is it the traffic? don't think so. Is it the music blaring out of the neighbours window? Nah! But then what is it thats trying to speak out ? Leave it! life is too busy to concentrate on such things.
But then when I paused for a moment, blocking all that was going around me, I could here it again... it was pumping heavily as if trying to suggest that this is not the way to live life, every second that's passing by, will never come back.
It was none other than my very own heart, which was making me aware of the maniacal race run by humanity, with time for none...not even for oneself. I was indeed warned well in advance coz I chose to listen to my heart, as a result each day brings a new ray of hope for me to look forward to.
How many times do we listen to our heart or let me put it this way, how many times does our diplomatically maneuvered rational mind let us take certain decisions, which may not seem practical but result as a blessing.
We have indeed stopped listening to our heart, it pumps and tries to keep its pace with our life and when it gets an overdose thats when it just gives up, landing us into an unexpected mess, which we had never thought about, coz when it tried to stop us from crossing our limits , we din't have time for it and when it could not take it any longer, we cursed it for being an unfaithful partner.
God has given us our senses so that we can be guided toward the right path, but he also blessed us with a heart, so that we can draw our attention to the things that we tend to ignore in the race to win, to teach us that its important to pick someone who falls and gets hurt, however busy we might be, it'll still make us the winner. Its important to understand that failure too is a part of life , since its something that'll make our steps even more firm, so that we don't trip the next time. Who would make us realise that its good to think beyond oneself..well its the same old friend, our very own heart!
Now I know why kids keep brimming with joy, they hold hands with their heart when they venture out of their homes, kissing the morning with a new dream each day!
We have indeed stopped listening to our heart, but if we start doing that we would get to now that life is not that bad, its just that we are unable to realise the best in it and waste most of our time fearing the worst.
Listen to your heart, it'll take you places:)

Follies and Foes

Live and let live, a line used by many but followed by some. In todays competitive world, though we are able to struggle hard but sometimes we just lag behind when it comes to competing with our emotions. Jealousy, hatred, and what not crops up for no rhyme or reason, leaving us even more defeated . How can one compete with an unhealthy attitude, one is bound to lose, as the maximum part of the energy is been used in being jealous of anothers success, igniting the blood and making it boil till it ceases to provide any kind of positive boost.
I have observed cases where the former although unaware of the existence of the latter is been envied by the other, for reason as inane as can be.People in the gym have a healthy competition , they want to burn out the crap as much as possible in order to lead a healthy life, but our dear old jealousy crops in and makes their blood burn more than their fat; " why is she a regular here, she doesn't need to lose anymore", "Why is he pumpn iron! while all I can pump is my breath which falls short as soon as I try to pick up minimal amount of weight" or in the corporate world, " why is the boss happy with him' whats so exceptional about his work"," Huh! wanabe, always at his desk day and night, who is he trying to impress"..............Oh God! Even an animal doesn't bite without being hurt!
But how can I forget, civilisation is fast reaching the animal world, leaving us humans to play in the muck, afterall tolerance cannot be everlasting , it retaliates when excesses make a breakthrough.Why is it that some of us cannot bear to see the other happy, has it become a trend in the modern world.
Though most of us claim that we have a very broad attitude towards life, but when it comes to practising what we preach or can say advertise, we crawl and curl up in our mean mentalities.Its time to streach and face the sun, may be it would help us to get rid of the germs we've been nurturing in our mind.
Today I got a mail from one or my colleagues, he wanted to celebrate his birthday in the old age home we've been working for . It indeed felt as if a fresh bright morning has made its way into the stale windy night, a night like the emotions with tolerance for none.
There are two sides to a coin and I thank God they don't face each other, the darker side can be turned down whenever the world needs to be cleansed......... and thats when we can take a sigh of relief. Maybe if every metal was gold , we would never have realised its true value. Isn't it folks:)

Lets break the monotony of life..........

Why are we so scared of new relationships, taking a step forward, treading into an unknown path, why is it so? Even after knowing well enough that without moving forward we would never be able to find out what’s in store for us. May be because somewhere there’s a fear that says, once you’re into it there’s no looking back.I often think how difficult it would be for a scientist to play and explore the unknown, just to make it known to all, after all a discovery is not a “one man’s profit”, it’s a boon for all ….and yes sometimes a bane too……….but should the fear of risks stop us for doing what we want to.
Life is a small chapter, with too much written on it, the more we get into its depth, the deeper we sink. Maybe sometimes the chapter needs a bit of enthusiasm to grasp our attention.
So let’s try and break the monotony of life:)

The Assorted shades of life

Yesterday I witnessed two shades of life, black and white, and the one on which I stood was a shade of gray, observing the petals of the flower called life , as a single petal drops another takes its place, the same way as the first ray of the sun shrinks the darkness of the night into a corner, to regain its position once the day comes to a break, the same way as life is countered by death and the vicious circle moves on.
He did not speak much, though his eyes were full of words, questions and a world different from the one we live in. We had grown up playing, but even his childhood was a world of his own, deep, sunken and maybe dark, because no one could ever come to know what was going on in his mind. Some said that it was a result of a strict parentage , while the others were unaware of his existence. I still remember the day he came to our house and had accidently broken the handle of a serving bowl, the fear in his eyes, and the way he curled away from us unveiled another face of his personality, the one that was scared. That was his last visit. Though he tried to blossom but it seemed that he shrunk away from the bright lights of the world, he had a world of his own. No one ever got to know what his ambition was in life, though one could observe his inclination towards cricket, but cricket in the world of strangers...................I heard the news which left me numb, he took leave of the world, maybe in a place which he would consider his own. I feel that hes happy , happy to be out of his depression, as we may put his state in words, happy to be somewhere where his heart, mind and soul are at peace. On that very day as I witnessed the dark shade of life, a death , a funeral, I got to know that its an inevitable performance , a life swallowed by death and then one fine day a new ray of hope, a new born and new desires, a longing to stand on its feet and witness the time as it passes by. I saw the two things on the single day, as I made my way to my little cousins place who would be celebrating her birthday tomorrow, she was booming with a contagious smile, which uncreased a lost expression that had layed itself on my face as I had bid my friend a farewell. Walking with unstable step the little one came and hugged me with both her hands, as if she was welcoming all the happiness that ever resided in this world. That's when I witnessed another shade of life, the one that was bright enough to scare the darkness away.Life comes in varied shades, some are dark and some are light, though the darker ones may seem to take time to pass by,but the sunny side of life stays besides us, reminding us as often as possible that life is like a perinnial river, where stagnation can never grow its roots , coz the waves of light are so strong that no amount of darkness can stand in its place for too long.

Happened to strike the right cord

It happened early in the morning, I was on the way to my office, when I had to stop at a red light.While engrossed in my thoughts I heard a knock at the window. There stood an old man with two white but muddy bags in his hands. All of a sudden he came up with a request or was it..... since he had a very blank face, "drop me to the temple".
I knew there was a temple at the end of the road, but the thought of letting a stranger come into the car was quite frightening.While my mind was full of confusion, the light turned green, my eyes fell on his hands which were shaking, as he was an old man.Before my thoughts could stop me any further I let him in.
All I knew at the moment was that I have to drive at full speed and drop him to the temple,as it was scary to sit with a stranger. I did not take a single normal breath before his destination came. When finally he got out of the car and made his way towards the temple door was I able to breath freely.
He went away with the same blank face, a total stranger yet someone who left me with innumerable thoughts that started pestering my mind as soon as it was at rest. If I was so scared why did I let him in? Did the word temple strike a cord ( its a place of worship, you can't say no to someone who wants to go there) or was it his age ( an old man is asking for help, can one be insensitive enough not to respond at all). Maybe both the things carried equal weightage.
Today the world has come to such a stage where it has become very difficult to believe in someone, there are so many masks that get unveiled over a period of time, that it becomes difficult to recognise people. Is she/he the same person?
There are those who choose the best possible means for the worst possible deeds. Its amazing how the face of our lives is changing colours with the time that's passing by. But in all this confusion and chaos, faith still lingers on, its the remaining bit of faith that drives us towards an unknown path, that makes us believe in our surroundings. Even after being hurt time and again, faith has curled up in a corner of our heart and when the time comes it just makes us do something that fills our mind with loads of doubts.
Life is indeed a mystery, sometimes it seems that theres no hope left and at other times it fills us with faith and hope.
I am happy that I could help a stranger , it made me realise that my faith hasen't taken leave of me, just the way his faith made him come to me and ask for help.Though we would like to believe that things have changed, but their are certain things that would never change. Though I would also like to say that its advisable to be at your guard but in situations when one knows that they can be of some help to someone in distress, one must make an effort to do so.
If all of us would just keep nurturing a single track mind there would be no one who would come to anothers rescue.
Confusions prevail but sometimes we just tend to strike the right cord;)