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;)

Its for us to decide...........

Different countries, different cultures , different ways of living, but somewhere theres a common factor that binds each and every indiviual in this world , this binding thread can mean different things to different people.
Lets take for instance two teenagers residing in two different parts of the world, with completely different cultures and different social backgrounds, but still they go through the same changes in life, the same old confusion of a growing mind, something each one of us went through when we were in our teens, then what's the difference? Maybe their outlook in life and the way they try to solve their dilemma. One cannot say that a single parent say in the US , faces the same problems as the one in India , but yes, certain things are quite the same, lonliness can surface to some extent in both the cases (I am not saying it happens in such cases but we all are human beings by the end of the day and go through a bit varied but quite similar thought processes in life) . An orphan say in a comfortable orphanage as compared to the one loitering on the road, might be in a better condition, but both share the same longing for a home of ones own, a wish thats bigger than all the comforts in this world .
We might react to a thirteen year old kid becoming a father in a foriegn land, but somewhere we have been hearing of such incidents in our land in the form of child marriages leading to premature pregnancies, the latter is a more socially sanctifies picture, but its a kid who becomes a parent in both the cases.
Its different yet so similar, that's because all the human beings in this world are tied to the same bundle of emotions that they go through in varied degrees. Its wrong to say that they do this and we don't, they lack values , we nurture them, the blame game can be neverending.........each one of us have been brought up with good values, each one of us have been shown the right path, each one of us cherish the different cultures that we belong to, its for us to decide what we want out of life. Do we want to live life carelessly, trodding the path that ruins our future forever , or do we want to lead ourselves to the path that would take us towards betterment.
Its an indiviual decision, no religion, culture, region or country can force an indiviual to do something that's not right for them or for others, if one is determined to do something wrong they can do it with or without being seen.
The essence of life lies in the fact that even in the absence of moral policing an indiviual recognises the right path and abides by it consciously and unconsciously........its only then that we can say that we are proud of ourselves!

clicked about life:)

Though I don't know much about photography but somehow each one of us have a picture stored in our heart , lost memories just surface out all of a sudden through the dusty pile of old pics. What is so special about photographs , well it seems that a photograph has the power to capture emotions and treasure them for a life time. The fresh shower of rain, an innocent smile of a new born infant, first love , a nursery group snap with ones hair looking like a birds crumpled nest, the first group of friends , grandparents with their teeth intact , some clicked just for fun, others with loads of preparation, photographs talk volumes without words. The best part of the deal is that even an old, yellow , slightly blurred photo will still have the same emotions preserved within it, which can never change .
Just wish we had the power to click the best moments of our lives and re-live them once again, a pile of actual moments which whenever we are sad would give us solace by being replayed time and again .But then I think if we would keep on repeating the same moments, life would become extremely boring. Theres something stored in each new moment of our life , new emotions , new dreams, something new to look forward to .
Be it sad or happy, life is to be lived and enjoyed, I call it living life tastefully, a bite of each moment together form a pile of photographs which collectively form a treasure of memories to be preserved and cherished for years to come.
Therefore all I can say is........SMILE PLEASE:)

No Vision Without Hope

There are so many stories hidden within every human being that it's difficult to find out who has what concealed within themselves.There's pain, there is anguish, but life goes on for each one of us. The only thing that we can do to make some one or ourselves happy is to try our level best. A dedicated soul and a heart full of kindness is what brings a smile of contentment; contentment from the fact that atleast we tried our best, as this is the real meaning of life, strive, work hard and leave the rest on God.
Recently I met someone who is a regular visitor to an old age home, the things that he told me touched my heart and left me without words. I am amazed at the kind of hope that the people living there nurture in their heart. For instance there is a woman ( an old lady) who always asks the visitors whether they have met her family and on getting a positive reply is more than satisfied and continues with the daily routine in turn reminding the person to meet her family again. This is called Hope, though most of us would say that the old lady is not in her senses, I'd say may be this is why she is alive. We sensible beings apply so much of unnecessary logic to everything that hope takes a flying leap from our life, least do we realsie that until we hope for the best to happen it would never happen because negativity has always kept success at bay.Someone told me ones, we should never shrink our dreams to adjust to the reality, it's the reality that would adjust to our dreams.
In contrast to the old lady there is one in the same old age home, who stays despondent all the time, with a plaster on one of her hands, she is leading life with a preserved parcel of the worst memories of her life.She has no hope left. Her children took away her house, broke her hand and threw her out of their lives. Today she does not want to remember them, she hates the very mention of home and lives in the dark cacoon that she has built around herself, ... there's no hope left within her.
I am not saying that the first woman I mentioned was completely happy, but yes the hope within her kept her on her feet while the latter is counting each day with a heavy heart.
Every Human being has been hurt sometime or the other in their life, some fought back and some took it on themselves. The ones who faced reality with readiness were the ones who had hope clenched within them.
Never lose Hope, hold on to it, so that it does not let go of you, spread it around and feel it coming back with greater energy.Hopelessness can make our vision poor, a vision of a new tomorrow, a vision of a new beginning.
Be hopeful towards life:)